Home / War and Conflict / Iceland Seizes Activist Ship, Crew Detained
Iceland Seizes Activist Ship, Crew Detained
1 Aug
Summary
- Icelandic authorities detained a 21-member crew of the protest vessel Bandero.
- The vessel was seized after allegedly threatening an Icelandic whaling ship.
- The activist group is founded by prominent anti-whaling figure Paul Watson.
Icelandic authorities have seized an anti-whaling protest vessel, the Bandero, and detained its 21-member crew. The Icelandic Coast Guard took the action after the whaling ship Hvalur 9 reported feeling threatened by the Bandero. The Coast Guard stated the protest vessel ignored instructions to leave Icelandic waters and stop its engines.
Around midnight on Thursday, special forces boarded the Bandero, detaining the crew. The Captain Paul Watson Foundation confirmed the seizure and stated the crew lacks phone access. The vessel arrived in Reykjavik on Friday, and police are investigating potential deportation and re-entry bans for the crew.
Iceland, along with Norway and Japan, continues commercial whaling, setting quotas for fin and minke whales. The Bandero's owner reported a prior collision with a krill trawler in Antarctica, alleging a deliberate attack. Paul Watson, founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, was not aboard the seized vessel.
