Iceland Seizes Paul Watson Foundation Ship After Special Forces Board Vessel During Whaling Protest

The Icelandic Coast Guard and special police forces boarded and took control of the anti-whaling vessel Bandero after the ship allegedly ignored orders to leave Icelandic waters and stop during an operation linked to a confrontation with a commercial whaling vessel.

Bandero, operated by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, was seized shortly before midnight on July 31 after entering Iceland’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters while monitoring the whaling vessel Hvalur 9.

The vessel was later escorted to Sundahöfn harbour in Reykjavík. Paul Watson was not aboard at the time of the operation.

The Icelandic Coast Guard said it received a report at around 1800 on July 30 that the crew of Hvalur 9 believed their safety was under threat after Bandero approached the vessel.

The Coast Guard said Bandero was ordered to leave Icelandic waters but did not follow the instructions.

A Coast Guard helicopter, which was already on patrol, was sent to the area and repeated the order for Bandero to leave, but authorities said the vessel did not comply.

The patrol vessel Freyja was then dispatched to intercept Bandero and instructed the captain to stop the ship’s engines.

According to the Coast Guard, the captain did not follow those instructions either. Special police officers were flown by helicopter to Freyja, while the Coast Guard’s special operations unit moved towards Bandero in fast boats.

The boarding operation was completed shortly before midnight, when officers arrested the captain and took control of the vessel.

The Coast Guard said the operation was carried out in cooperation with Iceland’s National Commissioner of Police, with the Ministry of Justice informed throughout.

“This is the biggest operation in decades, and it went exactly according to plan,” Icelandic Coast Guard communications manager Ásgeir Erlendsson said.

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation confirmed that Bandero had been seized, saying the vessel had been following Hvalur 9 for several weeks as part of its campaign against Iceland’s commercial whaling activities.

Earlier on July 30, the foundation claimed Bandero had collided with Hvalur 9, forcing the whaling vessel to stop its hunt and return to port.

The Coast Guard confirmed that Bandero had approached Hvalur 9 and attempted to disrupt its movement but did not confirm that a collision took place.

The Coast Guard said the reason for the arrest was related to reported threats involving Hvalur 9. A majority of Bandero’s crew remained aboard the vessel after the operation, with reports stating they were being held under armed guard.

Bandero is a 65-metre, 500-ton motor yacht used by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation for its anti-whaling campaign. The group launched its “Operation 86” campaign this summer to monitor and interrupt Iceland’s whale hunting activities.

The campaign’s name refers to a 1986 incident involving members of the Sea Shepherd group, which was also founded and previously led by Paul Watson. During that incident, two activists entered an Icelandic whaling station and damaged equipment.

The vessel arrived near Iceland earlier this summer as part of the campaign. It briefly left the area after a crew member was injured and required medical treatment before returning to search for Iceland’s remaining active whaling vessels.

The dispute comes after Iceland lifted a two-year suspension on commercial whaling this summer. Iceland, along with Norway and Japan, is among the few countries that still allow commercial whaling. The hunting season runs from mid-June to mid-September.

Icelandic fisheries data showed that whaling company Hvalur hf reported 17 fin whales hunted by July 17, while the Paul Watson Foundation reported the number was 30. The foundation has also accused Hvalur hf employees of mistreating harvested whales.

References: icelandreview, deccanchronicle