Sea Shepherd vessel tailed by Somali pirates

The Steve Irwin successfully ran the gauntlet of Somali pirates today as the ship and crew transited the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea under the command of Captain Lockhart MacLean, conservationists Sea Shepherd reported.

Last summer, the flagship Steve Irwin was involved in skirmishes with Maltese tuna farmers and had to be warded off by the Armed Forces of Malta. But Sea Shepherd’s divers managed to free over 200 tuna from a pen owned by Fish and Fish. The boat will return to the Mediterannean as part of its 'Operation Blue Rage 2'.

Yesterday a US military Blackhawk helicopter overflew the Steve Irwin and hailed the vessel as a Dutch warship. "If the camouflage paint job and the large '77' emblazoned on the bow fooled the US military, Sea Shepherd was hoping that the pirates would also be mistaken and would keep their distance," the organisation said.

Three Somali skiffs with six men in one, five in another and two in the third approached the Sea Shepherd's flagship vessel Steve Irwin and tailed itl for a few miles.

"They appeared to be uncertain and backed off to check out a container ship a three miles distance from the Sea Shepherd ship. Captain Lockhart MacLean notified the coalition naval authorities in the area and warned the Maersk container ship that the skiffs were approaching them.

"To the pirates it must have looked like the Steve Irwin was a warship escorting the container ship. The skiffs backed off and both ships successfully entered the Red Sea."

The Steve Irwin is now heading to the Suez Canal.

The Steve Irwin will join the Gojira for the Mediterranean campaign. “We need to bring to the attention of the international public that one of the most unique fish species in the world, the Bluefin tuna, is on the brink of extinction due to the illegal fisheries driven by Japan’s insatiable demand for this expensive fish,” said Sea Shepherd founder and president Captain Paul Watson.

The Mediterranean tuna industry is supported by tens of millions of Euros in subsidies from the European Commission, but scientists and conservationists say the industry has driven the Bluefin tuna to the brink of extinction.