Isn't Hit and Run at Sea Illegal?

The area where this incident occurred was still in Australian controlled waters. That whaler ship "apparently" was whaling illegally there anyway.

Sea Shepherd trimaran was rammed by Japanese whaler

(SALEM, Ore.) - In the recent case of the Japanese whaler ramming an activist boat near Antarctica, you can clearly see that the Japanese ship was heading straight for the Sea Shepherd stealth ship.

Their full intentions by doing that, via constantly aiming and shooting off water cannons at the boat, were quite obvious.

As soon as they crashed right into the boat (if you watch the footage they were very lucky that the whaling ship did not run over the whole boat completely) - they "still" carried on firing their water cannons at the damaged boat, with no consideration of the wounded that could have been aboard.

They then veered off and banked sharp to the left afterward, showing how maneuverable that whaling ship is.

That ship's crew could have moved around the Sea Shepherd boat, or at least slowed down - but instead decided to accelerate toward the boat in an offensive attack position.

That Sea Shepherd boat is an extremely expensive bit of kit; the last thing they would want to do is try to ram it into a huge steel-hulled ship. The captain on that whaler should get arrested for some kind of criminal act.

If that was a car and the driver decided to intentionally ram another car or a pedestrian, then that would end up in the "attempted manslaughter" category.

You would think under some kind of Maritime law, that at least the captain of the whaler ship would lose his license and the owner of the ship be fined for damages.

It seems like liability and the ability to sue on the waters only cover tourist areas, or public accessed areas like tourist beaches, harbors and lakes.

The area where this incident occurred was still in Australian controlled waters. That whaler ship was operating illegally in the area.

Also, you have Australian citizens on the boat that was rammed. I think the Australian Police as well as the Navy should be more involved in this, as it is clearly getting out of hand. The Australians are supposed to be very protective of what swims around in their oceans, as well as being very eco-friendly.

I am sure most Australians would back that idea of having their waters protected more, especially when it comes to protecting their whales and dolphins.

There is also the threat of over-fishing that could affect the Australian fishing trade.

What else are the Australians doing with their Navy anyway, apart from protecting oil rigs?

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Dexter Phoenix has worked as a staff and freelance photographer since the mid-1990's. Covering war, world politics and celebrities, he has a wealth of professional experience. We welcome his presence to our staff at Salem-News.com. This native of Great Britain moved to Los Angeles in 2007, where he photographed general news, general interests, sports, did freelance model photo work, and also stock images. In his career, Dexter has had photos published: World wide, in many magazines and newspapers and online. Throughout the course of his career he has experience with technology of all imaginable types. In his career as a photographer, Dexter has covered stories in Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, Mexico, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, Somalia, Tunisia, Algeria, Angola, Iran, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Colombia and The United States. Email inquiries about photo purchase to Dexter at the above address. You can email Dexter Phoenix, Salem-News.com Photographer/Reporter, at innocent_p0stcard@hotmail.com