Perreault Magazine - 51 -
As the SAM SIMON departed to continue to catch up with the BOB BARKER they learned that the New Zealand Navy had failed to board the KUNLUN, SONGHUA and YONG DING and had allowed them to escape. Australia had also intercepted the KUNLUN, questioned the captain and released it.
A few weeks later the SAM SIMON caught up with the BOB BARKER and the THUNDER in the waters off Sao Tome Principe and with both ships on their tail the captain of the poaching vessel decided to end the chase by scuttling his own ship in full view of the BOB BARKER and SAM SIMON. He did it in an attempt to destroy the evidence of his illegal activity but three BOB BARKER crewmembers boarded the sinking vessel and secured the evidence as the crew of the SAM SIMON rescued the 42 poachers that had abandoned ship.
The THUNDER crew were handed off to the authorities in Sao Tome Principe and both the SAM SIMON and the BOB BARKER set a course north, to Bremen, Germany where the 70 tons of gill net was offloaded and sent off to be recycled.
Back in the Indian Ocean the KUNUN arrived in Thailand where it was detained for only a few months before being allowed to escape with it’s illicit cargo intact leaving a few Customs officials a bit richer than when it arrived.
The same story held for the VIKING in Malaysia. Detained and allowed to depart despite all six of the poaching vessels having Interpol Purple Notices issued against them. The PERLON however was detained in Malaysia despite the escape of the VIKING.
However the chase was
not up and the game
was not over.
The YONG DING and the SONGHUA slipped into Cape Verde and unluckily for them Captain Peter Hammarstedt had just landed in Cape Verde to inspect the Sea Shepherd vessel JAIRO MORA SANDOVAL and as he was driving from the airport to meet with the crew, he immediately recognized two of the ships that had eluded the New Zealand Navy. He notified Interpol and the Cape Verde authorities detained both ships.
The end of the year saw the THUNDER on the bottom of the ocean and the PERLON, YONG DING and SONGUA detained leaving the KUNLUN and VIKING at large.
But not for long, Sea Shepherd mounted Operation Icefish Two and sent the STEVE IRWIN into the Southern Ocean under the command of Captain Sid Chakravarty.
The hunt was on, and so was the heat. The KUNLUN attempted to offload its contraband cargo in Senegal and was arrested.