Tri-Service

Royal Navy Dismiss Japanese Whaling Fleet Claims

HMS Protector Sent To Protect Against Illegal Japanese Whaling

The Royal Navy has confirmed to Forces TV that "there are no plans to divert HMS Protector to monitor Japanese whaling vessels."

The ice patrol ship is currently docked in Hobart en-route to a month-long patrol of the Ross Sea.

It's the first time in 80 years a Royal Navy ship will be on active duty in the Antarctic region, far below the southern tips of Australia and New Zealand.

HMS Protector is part of an international mission aimed at tackling the poaching of Patagonian toothfish.

Her 75-strong crew, which includes Royal Marines, has the power to board and inspect any fishing vessels thought to be involved in the illegal trade.

The ship's captain, Rory Bryan, says he hopes Protector's presence throughout December will act as a deterrent.

"Our key role is going to be the maintenance of what is known as CCAMLR - which is the fishery protection role in Antarctica - and we're going to be helping the Australians, in effect, police those waters,"

Japan's whaling fleet, led by the Nisshin Maru, has already set sail and plan on killing around 300 Minke whales off the coast of Antartica. The hunt's been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice and not, as Tokyo insist, a legitimate scientific mission to study the creatures.

They will not however be tracked by either the Australian or British navies.