| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Yushin Maru |
| Port of registry: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Laid down: | March 6, 2002 |
| Launched: | June 11, 2002 |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Whaler |
| Tonnage: | 747 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 69.61 m (228 ft 5 in) o/a |
| Beam: | 10.8 m (35 ft 5 in) (moulded) |
| Draft: | 4.718 m |
| Propulsion: | 3900 kW |
| Speed: | 22 kts |
The Yūshin Maru № 2 (第2勇新丸 Daini Yūshin Maru)) is a Japanese registered whaling harpoon ship that undertakes whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.
On January 15, 2008, two members (Ben Potts and Giles Lane) of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, traveling on the MV Steve Irwin, boarded the Yushin Maru № 2 without permission. They were accordingly detained onboard the ship for two days before being transferred to the Australian customs vessel MV Oceanic Viking. Sea Shepherd later claimed the two had hidden a homing beacon on the Yushin Maru 2. During their detainment, they were offered whale meat for dinner.[1]
On February 6, 2009, the MV Steve Irwin collided with the Yushin Maru № 2 as the activist vessel attempted to obstruct the transfer of a whale up the slipway of the factory ship Nisshin Maru. Both sides claimed the other responsible.[2] Pete Thomas of the LA Times speculated as to "whether [Mr. Watson's] actions are truly on behalf of the whales, or merely to obtain dramatic footage for the Animal Planet series, Whale Wars".[3]
|
||||||||||||||