RV Farley Mowat

The R/V "Farley Mowat" is the flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's fleet, and is a long-range, ice-class, heavy-duty conservation ship. Originally built as a Norwegian fisheries research and enforcement vessel, she was purchased by the Sea Shepherds in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August 1996. The ship is named after Canadian writer Farley Mowat.

Registration problems

During 2007 the ship operated without an officially recognised registration flag.

The "Farley Mowat" cleared Australian Customs in Hobart, Tasmania, on December 29 2006, only hours before the nation of Belize struck its flag. The Belize registry had only been issued ten days before on December 19, 2006

The Belize registry was sought after the UK revoked the registration in early December 2006 the same day it was issued. In October, the "Farley Mowat", registered under the Canadian flag since April 2002, had her registry suspended by Canada. In May 2007 Sea Shepherd issued a press release [cite web
last = Sea Shepherd Conservation Trust
title = Sea Shepherd Receives the Flag of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070705_1.html
accessdate = 2007-11-18] indicating that the Mohawk long house of the Iroquois Confederacy, in response to the Canadian government action, had agreed to the ship (and Sea Shepherd's other ship the Robert Hunter) flying their flag. This was also reported on CBC Radio programme "As It Happens" [Citation|title = As It Happens|url=http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20070619-aih-1.wmv|date=2007-06-19] . It was not clear if this "registration" by a body not internationally recognised as a country was accepted by port authorities, in any case the vessel is as of 2008 registered in the Netherlands

Career

The R/V "Farley Mowat" officially began her career in the waters off Costa Rica, immersed in controversy over policing actions against illegal fishing activities.

The Society uses the vessel to monitor international waters for violations of international fisheries agreements.

Recent history

In March and April 2008, the "Farley Mowat" was involved in controversy related to the 2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt.On April 12, 2008, Fisheries and Oceans Canada seized the R/V "Farley Mowat" in the Cabot Strait after the ship came near the seal hunt without an observation permit and two collisions with a coast guard vessel occurred. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/conservation/sea-shepherd-and-coast-guard-ships-collide/2008/04/01/1206850877251.html Sea Shepherd and coast guard ships collide] ] [ [http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=171b77e8-2f80-45fa-911b-59921711d55f&k=66594 Where, precisely, was the Farley Mowat?] ] During the raid, the captain and first officer were arrested and were later charged for this incident [ [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/04/12/seal-hunt.html CBC News] ] [ [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/13/seal-arrests.html Anti-sealing activists appear in court] ] . Currently, the Farley Mowat is being held by Fisheries and Oceans Canada until a court orders the release [http://www.canada.com/globaltv/bc/story.html?id=2fa0e7fc-5c3f-47a8-b7ff-a0dc53a65b18&k=10047 Anti-seal hunt protesters decry Canada's 'act of war' in seizing their vessel] ] . The location of the boat at the time of the seizure is controversial. The Sea Shephard Conservation Society claims the boat was seized illegally in international waters. The Canadian Fisheries minister claims that the boat was seized in Canadian waters, but also that the Fisheries Act gave him authority to order the boarding outside Canada's territorial waters zone of 12 nautical miles. [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080413.wsealhunt0413/BNStory/Front Crew maintain seizure broke international law] . April 13, 2008.]

The captain and first officer made a court appearance on May 1, 2008. [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/13/seal-arrests.html?ref=rss N.S. court grants bail to anti-sealing activists] , CBC News, April 13, 2008] On July 2 2008, they entered a plea of not guilty to coming too close to sealers. Trial dates have not been set. [ [http://news.aol.ca/article/pleas-seal-hunt/271976/ Officers of anti-sealing vessel plead not guilty in N.S. court] , AOL Canada, July 2, 2008]

Pictures

Photos taken on board the Farley Mowat during her stay in Melbourne, Australia in 2006.

In popular culture

* The vessel is featured in the 2007 film "Sharkwater".

References

External links

* [http://www.newzeal.com/theme/Ships/Shepherd/farleymowat.htm Brief description of the vessel, with photos] , from a [http://www.newzeal.com/steve/antarctica.htm philatelic] society's site, dating to a visit the "Farley Mowat" made to New Zealand.
* [http://www.seashepherd.org/fleet/fleet.html Original source with picture and description of other ships in their fleet] from [http://www.seashepherd.org SeaShepherd's site] .
* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/antiwhaling-pirates-get-more-muscle-for-antarctic-skirmish/2007/01/09/1168104983880.html Melbourne newspaper "The Age", Jan 10 2007] .
* [http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/135635.php Indymedia report on vessel deregistration] .
* [http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_051228_1.html Sea Shepherd News - Confessions of a Modern Southern Oceans Pirate by Captain Paul Watson, 28 December 2006] .
* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/sea-shepherds-all-at-sea/2007/02/08/1170524233638.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 Melbourne newspaper "The Age", 8th February 2007 - Unregistered pirate vessel Farley Mowat fails to locate Japanese whalers, unable to return to port]
* [http://www.itu.int/cgi-bin/htsh/mars/ship_detail.sh?lng=en&1702733&FARLEY+MOWAT ITU Call Sign: MANP]
* [http://www.nzmaritimeindex.org.nz/ixsearchvessels.asp?gsn=5172602 IMO 5172602]