Anti-sealing vessel seized by Coast Guard

Source: CBC

Fisheries officers seized a ship used in a protest against the seal hunt off the west coast of Newfoundland on Saturday to have its captain and first officer arrested

Watson said he was on the phone to one of the crew members of the Farley Mowat as officers took command of the vessel. He said they were "screaming at people to lie down on the deck.

"They stormed the vessel. They forced everyone down on to the deck at gunpoint. I could hear the yelling in the background, and then the phone went dead. It's obvious that they seized the vessel, and they did so illegally.

"The Dutch-registered Farley Mowat never entered Canadian waters," Watson maintained. "It was always in international waters, and it’s technically an act of war to board a vessel outside the 12-mile [19 kilometres] limit without the permission of the captain."

However, Hearn said the Farley Mowat was within Canadian territorial waters.

"Canada was well within its rights to board the ship and prevent future harm to sealers, fisheries officer and permanent observers," he said. "We did the right thing."

BZ to the Coast Guard and the ERT guys for doing their job right and reaffirming that our waters are ours and that anyone not following our laws will have to pay the price.

On a "legal" note: in one of my courses (that dealt with international law) I studied the case of the ACHILLE LAURO, which, though the situation was different, highlighted the possibility of a ship that had conducted illegal activities in one country's jurisdiction being pursued outside that jurisdiction (and into international waters) for prosecution. Even if FARLEY MOWAT was outside the 12NM zone, it had been violating Canadian law and, quite possibly (from reading other, non-CBC articles) generally endangering other vessels in contradiction to the International Regulations for Avoiding Collisions at Sea (COLREGS). Either way, it was performing illegal activities and, as such, police action was required and justified.

As far as the comments of it being an act of war... wouldn't endangering vessels in another country's territorial waters be an act of war, too? Hmmmm, I bet someone didn't think of that one!