Chinese Artificial Islands: Ecological Disaster

Odd we aren't seeing more outcry against China's total disregard for environmental matter as in VOA's report from January 2016 Marine Biologists: Artificial Islands Devastating South China Sea Ecosystems

Between 2012 and 2015, Chinese fishermen have used large, extended propellers affixed to utility boats to chop the reefs and prepare for the construction of artificial islands.

Fishermen scour the ocean floor for giant clam shells, which are prized as jewelry and luxury items that sell for up to $150,000.

According to Dr. John McManus, a University of Miami marine biologist, while building on the reefs is not new, China’s large-scale construction of a military base and runways is resulting in unprecedented environmental damage.

“Suddenly we have this massive situation where large areas of coral reef are being buried," he said. "In the end it was almost 13 square kilometers — 13 million square meters — that was destroyed, just in terms of being buried under these islands, and this was a huge, huge shock.”

China’s Foreign Ministry has said the artificial islands are to be used for civilian purposes, search and rescue missions, as well as defense.

Well, I guess that makes it all right, then.

Not.

Trans-National Groups: Environmental Activists at Sea

Greenpeace photo © Will Rose / Greenpeace

Been keeping an eye on the Greenpeace "yacht" that carried activists who tried to board a Russian Arctic drilling rig. As you may recall, Russia has now charged "piracy".

Some background on the Greenpeace vessel at Maritime Professional here:

***
While Greenpeace refers to the Arctic Sunrise as a research icebreaker, it is registered with the Government of the Netherlands as a sea-going motor yacht, thus avoiding certain technicalities. It has berthing space for up to 28 persons. The ship has been used in a number of high-visibility environmental and ecological protests, some endangering navigation.
***
Despite the lack of government approval, Arctic Sunrise most recently entered Russian waters of the Barents Sea and protesters attempted to board the oil and gas platform Prirazlomnaya. A Russian Border Guard vessel fired a warning shot over the bow of the Arctic Sunrise after it refused to heave to. The Greenpeace vessel and its personnel are now under detention and federal criminal charges of piracy have been initiated.

As noted before, the UNCLOS definition of piracy is:

''Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).''

So, if the activists were just out to save the planet, how does that fall under the "committed for private ends" part of the definition? Isn't what they were doing a "public good" or at worst, trespassing?

Good question, and one that will have legal scholars arguing. As Maritime Law expert Eugene Kontorovich wrote at The Volokh Conspiracy,

The unusual piracy charges may well be inspired by a Ninth Circuit decision holding the Sea Shepherd’s “Whale Wars” against the Japanese whaling fleet could constitute piracy under the Alien Tort Statute, as OpinioJuris notes. I agreed with the Ninth Circuit in that case, against much protest. The question was whether piracy requires a motive to steal, and the Ninth Circuit held it does not. But the present matter is entirely different. Here it is Russia’s actions that violate international law.

The case cited by Professor Kontorovich is Institute of Cetacean Research v. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in which the Ninth Circuit overruled a U.S. District Court as the Ninth Circuit

"determined that 'private ends' should not be limited to individuals pursuing 'financial enrichment.' *** . . . the Ninth Circuit that 'private ends' includes those pursued on personal, moral or philosophical grounds." (from St.John's University School of Law Admiralty Practicum Summer 2013 edition)

Professor Kontorovich distinguishes the cases because (1) piracy requires an attack on a ship and an oil rig is not a ship and (2) no act of violence was performed by the Greenpeace activists.

Well, it will be up to a Russian court to sort all that out. However, it does point out that trans-national groups, even those allegedly having the best of intentions, may find themselves bumping against international law as well as the laws of sovereign states that they may not have fully comprehended.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace seeks support in setting "Free the Arctic 30". They also link to a number of legal "experts" who support their view here.

Perhaps they ought to be grateful that they didn't get the Russian "assistance" reportedly provided to suspected Somali pirates.

Note to St. John's Law - the link you cite to the Admiralty Practicum in your print publication is broken.

Putin says: Greenpeace activists "lawbreakers" "not pirates"

Greenpeace photo

The Times of India reports "Greenpeace activists 'not pirates' but broke law: Putin":

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that 30 Greenpeace activists arrested in Russia over their open-sea protest in the Arctic were not "pirates" but they did break the law.
***
"Our law enforcement agencies, our border guards did not know who was trying to seize the platform under the guise of Greenpeace," he said.

He added that the siege of a shopping centre in Kenya heightened fears.

"And against the background of the bloody events that happened in Kenya, anything could happen after all," he said.

The Greenpeace incident happened before the Kenyan siege began, however.

Putin apparently reserves reserves the right to be concerned in an alternate time line in which the Kenya thing happened first.

In any event, this appears to be setting up  hand slaps for the "activists" should this incident go to trial.

Whale Boors: Silly Sea Shepherds File Frivilous Lawsuit Against Japanese Whalers

Publicity whores that they are, the maritime incompetent Sea Shepherds turn to the courts of the Netherlands to allege that they were "pirated" by Japanese whalers, as set out in Whale Wars: Sea Shepherd lodges piracy charge against Japanese whalers:

On Friday, Sea Shepherd filed a legal complaint against the Japanese whaling fleet in the Netherlands, where Mr. Watson's flagship, the Steve Irwin, is registered. "We filed a complaint for criminal prosecution with our prosecutor, requesting the start of an investigation into what we consider to be a crime -- piracy, actually -- committing violence on the high seas," Liesbeth Zegveld, a legal adviser for the group, told Reuters.
***
But it's far from certain that legal filings will lead anywhere, and legal analysts say a charge of piracy against the Maru, which had been consistently harassed by the smaller Gil, is unlikely to stick.
***
But the consensus of experienced mariners and sea captains who have e-mailed me is that, while it's the responsibility of all vessels at sea to take every precaution to avoid a collision, and so to a certain extent there is blame to be spread around, that smaller, more maneuverable boats like the Gil are generally expected to have more responsibility for avoiding collisions, since they can turn faster.

"Under the long established international rules of maritime navigation, the smaller, more agile vessel is expected to remain clear of and not impede the operations or navigation of the larger, less nimble vessel," is how one former mariner put it.
***
The Collision Regulations of the International Maritime Organization, issued in 1972 and still in force, would seem to back up the stance that more of the fault lies with the Gil, since it had spent days deliberately approaching and interfering with the operations of the Maru, by darting across its bow, aiming lasers designed to temporarily blind the Japanese mariners, and seeking to foul its propeller with cables.
***
Watson's group has long said these sorts of regulations don't apply to their efforts, because they deem the actions of the Japanese whalers to be illegal and say that they are vigilantes enforcing laws that vested authorities refuse to do.

Is this the same as parking your car on a railroad track in the face of an on-coming train and then arguing that the train is at fault? What if you argue that the train is not there legally because it illegally emits too much pollution or makes too much noise?

Lasers? Watch this:


Trying to foul Japanese ship screw? See this:


More video available from the Japanese ICR here.

By the way, the skipper of the Gil asserts his boat was trying to avoid collision by turning to starboard at the time of the collision. Check the video and see if you detect any alteration in the wake of the boat:

Whale Boors: Terrorist boat gets whacked by Japanese whaling boat and the whining begins again

Take an idiot ship "captain" who routinely violates almost every rule of safe navigation in his admitted "terrorist" approach to "saving the whales" and add in enough money to keep him afloat and you've got Whale Boors, who are now whining that the small vessel they dispatched to attack and disable another ship was, in a nice turn of events, instead itself struck and disabled by the ship it was attacking. See here:

The futuristic Ady Gil trimaran, which holds the round-the-world speed record for a powered vessel and was enlisted by activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for this whaling season, received "catastrophic damage" and was sinking, they said.

All six crew, who earlier hurled stink bombs at the whalers to disrupt their annual hunt, were rescued unharmed by Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker ship.

Activists described the collision as unprovoked but Japan lashed out at the the group, accusing them of "extremely dangerous" behaviour.

"The Shonan Maru No.2 suddenly started up and deliberately rammed the Ady Gil, ripping eight feet (2.4 metres) of the bow of the vessel completely off," a Sea Shepherd statement said.

"The Ady Gil is believed to be sinking and chances of salvage are very grim," it added.

But the Japanese Fisheries Agency said the Ady Gil came abnormally close to the Shonan Maru No.2 and suddenly slowed down while crossing in front of it. "These acts of sabotage that threaten our country's whaling ships and crew were extremely dangerous," it said in a statement. "It is totally unforgivable." Japan slams protestors

Videos released by both the Japanese and the activists show the sleek, black powerboat and the Shonan Maru No.2 colliding as the whaling ship targets it with water cannons.

There was no major damage to the Japanese ship and no Japanese crew members were injured in the collision, the fisheries agency said.

The whalers accused the Ady Gil's five New Zealand and one Dutch crew of trying to tangle the Nisshin Maru's rudder and propeller with rope, and aiming a "green laser device" at its sailors, as well as launching stink bombs.

"The Sea Shepherd extremism is becoming more violent... Their actions are nothing but felonious behaviour," Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research said in a statement.

The "Sea Shepherd" tactics described by the Japanese should be familiar to anyone who has ever watched the "how not to operate at sea" show "Whale Wars."

And, while I have no great respect for the Japanese whaling effort, the actions of the Sea Shepherds is way over the top.

UPDATE: Looking at the video, it appears to me that the Ady Gil propelled itself into the side of the Japanese ship (see the water jets kick in?), and judging solely by the wake (what little can be seen of it) of the whaler, she was in a port turn when struck.

UPDATE2: I wonder if the Japanese were turning to port to avoid the Gil when some idiot on the Gil erred in hitting the throttle?

UPDATE3: Gil may have props instead of jets. My point remains the same - it appears to have propelled itself into the collision.

UPDATE4: A reminder of things past.

Idiots on a Ship

There is no excuse for this sort of behavior.

The skipper of the anti-whaling ship should be in jail and the ship seized and put up for sale. If he kills or injuries someone, he and all his "sponsors" should be liable for entrusting a ship to an idiot and his idiot crew.

Video from here.

UPDATE: Watson says the collision was because he was disoriented by the defenses used by the Japanese ships. See here.

There is some apparently argument that the acoustic device used by the Japanese is a military weapon. So? Ramming another ship is a military tactic and has been since men first went to sea - is it now a military weapon?

Capturing real live pirates and how they whine

Well done Op-Ed on the hypocrisy of the anti-whaling "Sea Shepherds found here. You may remember the Sea Shepherds as a couple of ships and their crew who have taken to ramming whaling ships in order to protect whales, thus placing human life somewhere below their list of important things than whales. The news occasionally runs a piece on one of the more flamboyant Shepherds, who has called himself a "pirate" and has been known to fly the "Jolly Roger" on his ship. See here and here.
So now, the OP-Ed writer calls them out:

Usually the first to tout endless negotiations and appeasement when matters of our own or our allies'national defence are on the line, the Red-Greens are calling upon the New Zealand government to immediately send armed warships to Antarctica, apparently to intimidate the crew of a Japanese whaling vessel who were acting in self-defence when they detained two militant whaling protesters whom even the radical Greenpeace have explicitly distanced themselves from.

The group in question are known as Sea Shepherd. They were not there protesting with banners or placing themselves between the whaling vessel and the whales. No, Sea Shepherd were there initiating force, and endangering human life and limb. The two detained men forcibly boarded the Japanese whaling vessel, the Yushin Maru, after attempting to entangle the propellers of the vessel using ropes, and throwing bottles of acid onto the decks. Frankly they were lucky not to be shot or harpooned on sight. A captain of a vessel, especially in a notoriously dangerous environment, would have every moral right to use lethal force to ensure the safety of himself, his crew and his vessel. The captain of the Yushin Maru showed compassion and restraint in merely detaining the men.

Greens spokesthing Metiria Turei says, "The latest events in Antarctica are unprecedented and may well escalate to a situation where lives are put in direct danger." What the breathlessly arrogant woman is failing to recognise is that lives were in danger! The lives of the crew of the Japanese vessel. But now, with the detention of the two eco-terrorists from Sea Shepherd, those lives are safe (provided the terrorists are kept under close guard). At any rate, what pray tell does she think sending an armed New Zealand warship to "observe" would do to de-escalate the situation? Bloodthirsty hypocrisy of the highest degree.

The fact is that the victims here were the crew of the Yushin Maru—they were attacked and boarded by extremists with less regard for human life than animal. And yet the captain and crew of the Yushin Maru acted compassionately and with regard for even the lowest forms of human life.

Make no mistake, these Shepherd fools are pirates:

There is little sympathy from an Australian maritime law expert for two activists being held on board a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean.

The Australian and Briton from the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin illegally boarded the Yushin Marun No2 last night.

Professor Sam Bateman says the men committed an act of piracy and the Japanese have every right to detain them.

Of course, the whining of the Sea Shepherds has begun, including some incredible quotes from "Captain" Watson:

Japan's whaling fleet in the Antarctic halted its operations Wednesday and scrambled to arrange the turnover of two activists who boarded one of its harpoon ships after a tense, high-seas chase, accusing the Sea Shepherd conservation group of piracy.

The captain of the activists' ship, meanwhile, told The Associated Press the two were "hostages" and vowed to continue to harass the fleet.

"We will only accept an unconditional release," Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson told the AP by satellite phone from the anti-whaling ship Steve Irwin. He said he wanted action immediately.

"We're going to chase them until they stop their hunt," Watson said. "As long as we're chasing them, they're not killing any whales."

The Japanese Fisheries Agency said it told the anti-whaling group to pick up the two activists, who boarded a harpoon ship on Tuesday to deliver a protest letter. The agency said its only demand was that the Sea Shepherd promise not to mount any attacks during the rendezvous.

Watson, however, said Japan was also demanding the group end its harassment of the whaling fleet as a condition of securing the pair's freedom.
***
But Watson said Japan was demanding Sea Shepherd stop harassing, filming or photographing the whalers, and that the transfer of the pair be conducted by small boat, 10 nautical miles from the Yushin Maru.

"I find it very strange that people who are holding hostages are calling us the pirates," Watson said.

More baloney from Watson here:

"When you hold hostages and make demands, that is the definition of a terrorist organisation, and that is the way they are acting," Captain Watson said.

"We are not going to cease and desist from interfering in their illegal whaling activities as a condition."

I reckon Watson does know "terrorism" when he practices -er- sees it...

Watson is lucky his men aren't dangling from a yardarm...

UPDATE: I note that the Sea Shepherds have been calling themselves "pirates" (of compassion) for some time.

Latest ONI Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report (to 12 Dec 07)

Latest ONI Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report (to 12 Dec 07)can be found here.

Highlights:

N. ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC NON-STATE ACTIVIST GROUPS:
.
1. SEA SHEPHERD: Sea Shepherd’s two month campaign Operation MIGALOO will commence 28 Nov 07, Southern Ocean. Beginning 28 Nov 07, Captain Watson and his volunteer crew will leave for the Southern Ocean and should arrive in an international whale sanctuary before the Japanese fleet. The radical conservation group says it’ll do everything in its power to stop the Japanese from killing more than 1000 whales, including ramming the whaling ships if necessary to try to stop the whalers (REUTERS, AAP, LM).
.
2. GREENPEACE: Greenpeace vessel (ESPERANZA) attempts to track the Japanese
whaling fleet, 18 Nov 07, Antarctic Ocean. Japan’s whaling fleet consisted of four vessels, which departed Shiomnoseki port to hunt famed humpback whales. Japan’s whaling fleet insists that killing 950 whales or more, including 50 humpbacks is for research. The (ESPERANZA) waited outside of Japanese coastal waters and will try to track the whalers to Antarctic waters and use non-violent tactics to stop the hunters (AFP, UPI, LM: chron.com).
.
3. GREENPEACE: Greenpeace activists attempt to block shipment 25 Nov 07 in the evening, Porvoo, Finland. Protestors aboard approximately five rubber boats were attempting to block a ship carrying 9,000-10,000 tons of palm oil from reaching the company’s Kilpilahti refinery. Police and the Coast Guard eventually forced the boats used by the environmentalists back to shore, and a total of 33 activists from different countries were arrested. According to Greenpeace, the police removed the fuel tanks from three of their boats on land and then the Coast Guard towed one of the boats ashore (LM: allheadlinenews.com, YLE Uutiset).
.
4. GREENPEACE: Greenpeace activists attempt to stop tanker (DOROUSSA) from
transporting palm oil, per 23 Nov 07 reporting, Rotterdam port, Netherlands. Environmentalists have chained themselves to the containers on the vessel to prevent the unloading of Indonesian palm oil. About six rubber speedboats brought the 20 protestors to the vessel. The vessel is destined for the company Vopak in Vlaardingen to unload its cargo (LM: Expatica).
.
5. GREENPEACE: Tanker (MT WESTAMA) was blocked while at berth by Greenpeace
activists 16 Nov 07, Dumai, Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Activists reportedly anchored the Greenpeace vessel (RAINBOW WARRIOR) beside the (MT WESTAMA) blocking the vessel
from leaving its berth destined for India with its palm oil cargo. The protest aimed to highlight the role palm oil plays in driving global deforestation and peatland destruction, which are major contributors to climate change. The vessel was finally able to depart from its birth on 18 Nov 07 (LM: REUTERS, AFP).
.
6. GREENPEACE: Activists blocked shipment 14 Nov 07 at port Tarragona in
northeastern Spain. Activists blocked a shipment of coal in a protest over climate change. Police arrested six protestors along with four journalists and press photographers in Greenpeace’s motorized inflatable boats. Other Greenpeace activists attached themselves to cranes offloading some of the 155,000 tons of coal from the ship. The protest was still continuing in the early afternoon. About 20 Greenpeace activists took part in the protest, aimed at drawing attention to the burning of coal as a source of greenhouse gas emissions (AFP).

Definitions of Terrorism:

Definition of Terrorism
[Source: Patterns of Global Terrorism. Washington: Dept. of State, 2001: vi]

No one definition of terrorism has gained universal acceptance. For the purposes of this report, however, we have chosen the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f(d). That statute contains the following definitions:

The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant (1) targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

The term "international terrorism" means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country.

The term "terrorist group" means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.

The U.S. Government has employed this definition of terrorism for statistical and analytical purposes since 1983.

Now, explain to me why "Greenpeace" is not a terrorist organization, subject to sanctions and punishment?

UPDATE: Photo is of pirate flagged Sea Shepard vessel "Steve Irwin" - and, yes, it is named after the late TV star...

Sea terrorism: Blowing up a tanker in Kola Bay?

Who wanted to blow up oil tanker in Kola Bay?. Apparently, the deputy mayor of Zaozersk...:

Mr. Igor Senin, deputy mayor in the closed military town of Zaozersk on the Barents Sea coast, admits that he was to be generously paid for the terrorist attack. According to the plans, the deputy mayor was to find an individual who was to conduct the misdeed. It remains unclear to the public however, who actually offered the money to Mr. Senin.

The court case against the official this week restarted in Murmansk, B-port.com reports.

It also remains unclear which oil tanker in the Kola Bay was the target for the attack. One of the possible target could have been the 360,000 ton Belokamenka tanker stationed in the area as terminal ship.

Kola Bay is off the Barents Sea - major port being Murmansk.

UPDATE: Kola Bay has been a dumping ground for obsolete Soviet-era military ships. See here.

Ship sinking anti-whalers

Reported here, environmental activists say they sank a whaling ship to make a point:

Activists said on Thursday they sank a whaling ship in a Norwegian port last month in an anti-hunt protest.

Police say they do not know the cause of the sinking of the red and white Willassen Senior vessel, by the quay in Svolvaer, north Norway, on August 31, but say that the leak may have come from an open valve. The vessel was being raised on Thursday.

A group calling itself Agenda 21 said on a U.S.-based Web site that it scuppered the ship.

"After ensuring that the vessel was unoccupied the salt water intake valve was opened, unleashing a torrent of water into the heart of the killer ship," it said. There was no way of verifying the statement.

The group, which did not name those involved, said it was "celebrating the end of commercial whaling in Iceland" by sinking a vessel in a Norwegian port. Reykjavik said last month that it would not issue new permits for hunts until demand rises and it can sell meat to Japan.

The rule of law and private property rights don't seem to mean much to these folks.