The night-walkers of Uganda

A tale of two ships 
Level 1
Elementary
Key words
1
Skim-reading
2
Skim the text and circle the correct answers to these questions.
1. How many ships does the article mention? (
2 / 6 / 7
)
2. In which ocean is the battle taking place? (
Pacific Ocean / Atlantic Ocean / Southern Ocean
)
3. Who is the captain of the MV Steve Irwin? (
Giles Lane / Paul Watson / Dave Walsh
)
4. Which organization believes in non-violent action? (
Greenpeace / Sea Shepherd / the Japan Whaling Association
)
5. Which group throws acid and rams ships? (
Greenpeace / Sea Shepherd / the Japan Whaling Association
)
6. Members of which organization boarded a Japanese whaler? (
Greenpeace / Sea Shepherd / the Japan Whaling
Association
)
284

---

A tale of two ships 
John Vidal
January 17, 2008
In thousands of miles of empty ocean, just 
two boats are trying to stop Japan’s whaling 
expedition in the Antarctic. One boat belongs to 
Greenpeace and the other to Sea Shepherd. The 
problem is that they are rival organizations. 
Altogether, seven ships are taking part in the 
battle in the Southern Ocean on the edge of 
Antarctica. The Nisshin Maru, a large Japanese 
whaling factory ship, is sailing south in heavy 
seas. It has a crew of 80 and the bodies of 
possibly 50 dead whales on board. 
The Esperanza, a Greenpeace ship, is two miles 
behind. It has a volunteer crew of 21 nationalities 
and a Dutch captain. The Esperanza is well-
equipped but it looks tiny against the huge 
whaling ship.
The MV Steve Irwin, the black flagship of 
the radical California-based Sea Shepherd 
Conservation Society, is also nearby. Captain 
Paul Watson’s crew is smaller but – like the 
Esperanza’s crew – is made up of brilliant and 
committed seamen. 
The MV Steve Irwin is about 2,500 miles south-
west of Fremantle in Australia. It is chasing 
a group of four small whaling ships that the 
Japanese are using to kill nearly 1,000 whales 
in the Antarctic whale sanctuary this year. The 
four ships are sailing towards the Nisshin Maru to 
offload harpooned whales and pick up stores.
Two of the Sea Shepherd boat’s crew, Giles Lane 
from Brighton and Benjamin Potts from Australia, 
jumped aboard one of the smaller whalers, the 
Yusshin Maru No. 2, from the MV Steve Irwin. 
They wanted to give a letter to the Japanese 
captain asking him to leave the whale sanctuary. 
The Japanese held the men captive and sailed 
away over the horizon. This act sparked an 
international diplomatic incident.
Now, the drama is reaching its climax. The last time 
Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and the Japanese 
whalers met in the Antarctic was almost a year 
ago and there were several near disasters. Over 
a period of more than a week, acid and mud, as 
well as water cannons and nail guns, were used. 
There were collisions, shouting matches and three 
distress flares had to be launched – first by Sea 
Shepherd when some of its crew was stuck on an 
ice floe, then by one of the Japanese ships when it 
was rammed by the Sea Shepherd ship, and lastly 
by the Nisshin Maru again when it caught fire and 
one man died. 
This year, the environmentalists know they could 
be sailing into a trap set by the Japanese fleet. 
“Anything could happen”, said Greenpeace’s 
Dave Walsh, on board the Esperanza. 
Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace are chasing 
the same whaling ships, but there are also 
other factors involved in this battle: large egos, 
jealousy, rivalry, distrust and very different 
opinions about the environment, protest and 
confrontation. Although the crews respect each 
other in such dangerous conditions, they are still 
in conflict.
The two organizations, Greenpeace and Sea 
Shepherd, are as different as chalk and cheese. 
The tactics they use are very different. Sea 
Shepherd throws acid, stink bombs, urine or 
even chocolate cake at its enemies. It puts 
ropes round their propellers and, led by Watson, 
the crew has crept on to its enemies’ boats at 
night and tried to sink them. Greenpeace’s main 
tactic is to put itself between the whales and the 
whalers or in front of survey ships – these tactics 
are not safe but highly effective. Greenpeace’s 
rule is non-violent direct action. 
Greenpeace said, “We’re not working together 
with Sea Shepherd. We are a confrontational 
organization. We put ourselves at risk, but no 
one else. We would never endanger sailors on 
other ships. Our argument is not with the guys on 
the ships; it is with the [Japanese] ministries”.