Animal Planet's 'Whale Wars' Ship, The Steve Irwin, Held For $1.4 Million Ransom By UK

Sea Shepherd crew throws stink bombs at an illegal whaling vessel. Photo courtesy of Peter Jay Brown.

The Steve Irwin, flagship vessel of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) featured on Animal Planet's "Whale Wars," is being held for ransom by the United Kingdom for $1,411,692.87 as of earlier this week.

At least five California residents - including one from San Diego and three from L.A. - crewed the ship and were on-board at the time of initial detainment by the UK in the Bailiwick of Jersey, part of the Channel Islands. One of the members is Peter Jay Brown of Topanga, director of the film Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist.

The Steve Irwin's unorthodox practices of ramming ships involved in illegal whaling and fishing operations in international waters deems the boat notorious to some, famous to others.

"Our vessel has been detained by the United Kingdom courts because of a civil lawsuit brought against Sea Shepherd by a Maltese company: Fish and Fish Limited (F & F)," said Captain Paul Watson, Founder of the SSCS.

The SSCS will aggressively defend their case.

"Last month, the Steve Irwin rescued endangered bluefin tuna from F & F nets," Watson said. "They are claiming damages. We believe these fish were caught illegally - after the season closed, without an inspector on board, and without any legal paperwork for their catch."

The boat's next mission is to sail to the Faeroe Islands to protect endangered pilot whales.

If the SSCS fails to post bond, the Steve Irwin may be seized or possibly sold.

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By Lauren Lloyd in News on July 23, 2011 4:30 PM

Comments [rss]

Pankaj Gaonkar

Steve irwin rocks............................nisan maaru sucks

INSIDERAU

I am anti Watson and I am anti killing any animal. Watson is a psycho who is a millionaire meat eating liar. To name his boat after Steve Irwin is a disgrace. Steve didnt pretend to be a conservationist, he was a decent man, no one cab say the same for the old fraud who has conned thousands ouf of their hard earnt money. Watson can easily pay the fine,he just wants the idiot supporters to cough up..again...as usual...so he can keep the donated millions for his retirement.

imjeffro

ransom is not an appropriate word choice. you might as well have said that the UK are anchor-raping the Steve Irwin.

SaltyDog01

Where's the editor? Pilot whales aren't endangered. Just saying. You might want to independently verify these sort of things before posting.

Also, the Steve Irwin was detained in the Shetland Islands, not in Jersey, on the other end of Great Britain (Paul Watson & Co did have a run-in at a Jersey hotel hosting a whaling meeting earlier in the week, but then sailed north to Scotland and the Shetlands).

I agree with Daniel, ransom is a bit of a strong word in this case. And lastly, can we get links to actual news sources rather to to the organizations themselves?

SNOWMAN221

they should be treated like the us did wiht the sea pirates and all other country around the world knows how !!!

Daniel Palmer

What is with the word 'Ransom'? Even the SSCS didn't stoop to using that word. It is basically a lien against the SSCS property, the same kind of lien that is used by civil courts in the US every day. The SSCS doesn't have any assets in the EU so the court is requiring them to post money or property valued at $1,411,692.87 (the damage claim in the law suit) so that if they lose then the plaintiff can actually have a way to recover their damages. This is done all the time and with the SSCS's history of running from court orders and fines it is even more justified.