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The Yushin Maru - Source: Reuters
Australian Federal Police have boarded the anti-whaling ship the Steve Irwin in Hobart, following a request from Japan.
The Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin docked at Princes Wharf at 10.30am on Saturday, after an engine problem forced them to end this season's campaign against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says federal police are executing a search warrant at the request of Japanese authorities in Tokyo.
"At least five federal police officers have boarded," Senator
Brown says.
"This is outrageous that Australian police are at the disposal of
the Japanese whale killers."
A spokeswoman for Brown says the search warrant is vague and it
is not clear what federal police are searching for, but video
material is being investigated.
Captain of the ship Paul Watson has been released from the boat,
but his colleagues don't have permission to leave at this
stage.
An AFP spokesman said a number of officers boarded the ship soon after it docked in Hobart on Saturday morning.
"As a result of a formal referral from Japanese authorities the AFP can confirm it conducted a search warrant on board the Steve Irwin this morning," the spokesman said.
The spokesman declined to say if anything had been seized from on board the boat or if any of its crew would be interviewed by police.
The Sea Shepherd activist boat has ended its summer clashing with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
Those clashes have included a collision between another activist boat, the Ady Gil, and a Japanese whaling ship, that led to Ady Gil being damaged and abandoned at sea.
The Ady Gil's captain, New Zealander Peter Bethune, was later detained by the Japanese on board their boat Shonan Maru 2 after he boarded that vessel without invitation.
The Sea Shepherd's second anti-whaling boat the Bob Barker is
also due to dock in Hobart on Saturday afternoon
Federal Police are yet to confirm if they will search the
vessel.
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