Radical marine conservationists Sea Shepherd insist having a small boat seized by police in Lerwick this week won’t deter its efforts to stop the killing of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands.
The rigid inflatable boat (Rib) from their vessel Sam Simon was taken into police custody on Tuesday at the request of Faroese authorities.
The Sea Shepherd ship as well as their vessel Bob Barker are docked in Lerwick to refuel and restock supplies.
The two ships are due to leave Lerwick to return to the Faroe Islands at midday on Thursday, but rough weather may delay their departure.
The controversial environmentalists had been in the Faroe Islands in their long-running attempt to disrupt its annual pilot whale drive in the region – the contentious tradition known as the Grind, or grindadráp.
Ship manager Sonja Hyppänen said the seizure would have no real effect on Sea Shepherd’s efforts in Faroe.
“What happened is that the small boat is now out of our hands, but that’s not going to stop us,” Hyppänen said.
“The Faroese are quite satisfied with themselves at the moment. They think that by taking a Rib away from us then that will stop us getting back there, but that’s not going to happen.”
The ship manager said that the small boat had been taken to a local workshop for a servic, and the police went to the premises to seize the Rib before issuing a warrant to the Sea Shepherd crew.
“We definitely did not expect the Faroese to reach us here,” she added.
“But then again, it’s kind of continuing the harassment of us up there, stopping us from protesting. But I was not expecting to see the police – especially the Scottish police.”