Filed under: Activism, Learning, Africa, SomaliaIn a not-too-surprising move last week the Sea Shepherd took its ship the "Steve Irwin" - proudly waving its skull-and-crossbones pirate flag - straight into the heart of real pirate country.
While the Shepherd's are regarded among conservation groups as being rebels and outsiders, willing to go to nearly any lengths to protect whales, dolphins, baby seals, tuna and more, happy to obstruct and lob stink bombs onto opposing vessels ... to-date they've not actually engaged in what we would consider today to be real piracy, i.e. boat-seizing, hostage-taking and gun-rattling.
But last week they painted the usually all-black "Steve Irwin" in green camo, with a giant "77" on its bow ("so we looked like a Navy ship," spokeswoman Tiffany Humphrey told me, the number representing the year - 1977 - the organization was founded), crossed the northern Indian Ocean, transited the Gulf of Aden and sailed into the Red Sea, through the waters still regarded "the most dangerous" on the planet thanks to Somali pirates.
"A few (real) pirates came and looked," said Humphrey, but apparently the "official" look of the environmentalist's boat gave them pause. Three separate skiffs with a half-dozen men in each approached the ship, tailed for a few miles, but kept their distance. As well as the new paint job, the ship was ringed with barbed wire, 4-foot-long steel spikes and the on-watch crew manned water cannons and "imitation" weapons.
The ship's new look apparently confused some local navies as well. A U.S. Blackhawk helicopter buzzed the ship, thinking it to be a Dutch warship.
Continue reading Sea Shepherd boat "Steve Irwin" heads to Somalian pirate watersSea Shepherd boat "Steve Irwin" heads to Somalian pirate waters originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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