Boat Named For Woodland Hills Businessman And Eco-Terrorism Supporter Ady Gil Wrecked In Whaling Clash

Well, I’m not sure exactly why this is news or not.  Really it’s just a publicity stunt more than anything else.  When you drive a boat in front of a ship, of course it will get wrecked.  Apparently, a local wealthy businessman named Ady Gil donated the money for this boat to be built – to the tune of $1 million.  And since it was destroyed today after only a few months in service, he basically paid for $1 million worth of publicity for the anti-whaling cause.

Read the full article in the Daily News, here’s a blurb:

SYDNEY — A conservation group’s boat had its bow sheared off and was taking on water Wednesday after it was struck by a Japanese whaling ship in the frigid waters off Antarctica, the group said.

The society said its vessel Ady Gil – a high-tech speedboat that resembles a stealth bomber and named after the Woodland Hills businessman who funded it – was hit by the Japanese ship the Shonan Maru near Commonwealth Bay and had about 10 feet (three meters) of its bow knocked off.

Locky Maclean, the first mate of the society’s lead ship, said one crewman from New Zealand appeared to have suffered two cracked ribs, but the others were uninjured. The crew members were safely transferred to the group’s third vessel, though the Ady Gil’s captain remained on board to see what could be salvaged, he said.

Japan’s whaling fleet left in November for its annual hunt in Antarctic waters. Uoya said that for security reasons, details of the fleet’s composition, the number of whales it hopes to take and the number of crew members are not being released to the public.

The Ady Gil is a 78-foot (24-meter) black-painted trimaran made of carbon fiber and Kevlar in a design meant to pierce waves. It was built to challenge the record for the quickest circumnavigation of the globe and can travel faster than 46 mph (75 kph).

Sea Shepherd unveiled the Ady Gil last October saying a California millionaire with the same name had donated most of the money for it. At the time, the group said the boat would be used to intercept and physically block Japanese harpoon vessels.

It should be noted that the article points out that the Ady Gil’s mothership is the “Bob Barker.”  In reality I believe that the whaling is actually pretty insane – I just find it amusing when the environmental groups act as though they can’t believe some bad incident happened.  That’s the reason they are there, isn’t it?

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• Article Link: Daily News Article