The conflict between conservationists and business ventures that exploits the bounties of the world's oceans has just been taken to another level with the battle now at Southern Ocean.
Sea Shepherd Global, the self-proclaimed "direct action" ocean conservation organization, a group that fights against poaching, hunting, and illegal fishing, has just introduced Ocean Warrior.
The high speed ship was purchased at the cost of 8.3 million euros or $9.3 million with funding from public lotteries based in Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Sweden.
"The one thing that we were missing in our fleet was a vessel with speed and endurance," said chief executive of Sea Shepherd Global Alex Cornelissen.
"With the Ocean Warrior, we have a ship that can outmatch any poaching vessel on the high seas," he said.
"We are now able to follow them anywhere they go and even run away if they become too aggressive," he continued, talking about the Japanese whaling vessels that they plan to target as the ship departs from the Netherlands this weekend bound for Australia.
The new vessel, which extends up to 54 yards, took 18 months to build. It was designed by a Dutch shipbuilding firm and is nothing short of being state of the art equipped with hybrid propulsion, four powerful engines and a helicopter landing deck.
A red cannon has also been mounted, located on the bridge. It can eject a mighty spume of water to inhibit the visibility of the whalers or to thwart them from boarding their ships.
For the past 10 years, Sea shepherd Global is estimated to have saved around 5,000 whales from being hunted down.
As the Ocean Warrior prepares to head underway from Amsterdam to Melbourne, the Sea Shepherd is getting ready to launch its 11th campaign in the Southern Ocean named Operation Nemesis.
"We've had campaigns where we've been following illegal whaling ships and because they had a superior speed, they could simply outrun us ... and we would lose valuable weeks during which they could chase whales," explains the vessel's captain.
Now, this likely won't be the case, with four engines that can top speeds of up to 55 kph or 25 knots, the Ocean Warrior will definitely be one formidable enemy.
