D Thursday, January 7, 2010 News 17 Direct action: Two crew salvage what they can from the Ady Gil after a bruising encounter, inset, with the Shonan Maru No.2 Pictures: EPA/Reuters Batboat? No, splatboat Hi-tech protest vessel comes a distant second in bruising clash with whalers By Miles Erwin ribs but the others were uninjured. As always in the escalating Whale Wars between protest groups and the Japanese research ships, the accusations flew thick and fast. The Shonan Maru No.2 changed course and ploughed directly into the boat, said Mr Maclean. When they realised that the Sho nan Maru was aiming right for them, they tried to go into reverse to get the bow out of the way but it was too late, the activist added. But claims the whaler rammed the Ady Gil were just not vindicated by the video, said Glenn Inwood of the Institute of Cetacean Research, the Japanese group that carries out the hunt. The Shonan Maru steams to port to avoid a collision. I guess they, the Ady Gil, miscalculated, he added. I guess that the Ady Gil miscalculated IT WAS dubbed the Batboat a bull etproof, superfast secret weapon that would terrorise Japanese whal ers. Sadly for the Ady Gil, being 30 times lighter than your opposition is a distinct disadvantage in a game of chicken on the Southern Ocean. The 16tonne, 24m (79ft) Ady Gil had its nose sliced off and its side crunched yesterday in a collision with Shonan Maru No.2, a 485tonne, 56m (184ft) Japanese whaler. A video of the clash shows the flagship of antiwhaling group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society being forced under the waves by the impact as its crew scamper to safe ty. First mate Locky Maclean said one crewman from New Zealand ap peared to have suffered two cracked The whale of the tape... Ady Gil Length: 24metres (78.7ft) Weight: 16tonnes Top speed: 40knots (74kmh/46mph) Cruising speed: 20knots (37kmh/23mph) Range: 20,000km (12,400miles) Special features: Can travel underwater for 23m; bullet-proof kevlar armour Shanon Maru Length: 56m (184ft) Weight 485 tonnes Top speed: 14.1knots (26kmh/16mph) Cruise speed: 11knots (20kmh/12mph) Range 18,000km (11,100miles) Special features: Water cannons to tackle pirates and anti-whaling craft The Ady Gil as it once looked index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html