Japan protests to Dutch envoy over Sea Shepherd`s antiwhaling violence

TOKYO, Feb. 6 Kyodo -
Japan lodged a protest to the Netherlands on Friday, deploring what it said was
repeated violent harassment and obstruction to operations of a Japanese whaling
fleet by members of antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and
demanded Amsterdam take appropriate measures as the state where the ship is
registered.
Dutch Ambassador to Japan Philip de Heer, who was summoned to the Foreign
Ministry, was quoted by Japanese officials as telling Parliamentary Vice
Foreign Minister Nobuhide Minorikawa that the actions by the group were
extremely regrettable and promising to swiftly relay Japan's protest to his
government.
De Heer and Minorikawa agreed that Japan and the Netherlands will continue
cooperation to prevent recurrence of dangerous behavior at sea, such as by
gathering and sharing evidence of such actions, ministry officials said.
Clashes between the Japanese whalers and the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd have
escalated in the Antarctic Ocean, with the conservationists attempting to
entangle Japanese propellers and throwing rancid butter at the whaling fleet.
The group also confirmed that its Dutch-registered flagship vessel, the Steve
Irwin, crashed into the stern of the whaling ship Yushin Maru No. 2 on Friday
morning as the group tried to interrupt the transfer of a dead whale up the
slipway of the Japanese vessel.
==Kyodo