Officials in Iceland reported the seizure of a ship operated by a group founded by anti-whaling activist Paul Watson. The incident involved Icelandic coast guards and police special forces who detained the crew on Thursday night.
The crew of the whaling vessel Hvalur 9 requested help, citing threats from the protest vessel Bandero. Despite instructions from coast guards to leave Icelandic waters, Bandero stayed and later ignored orders to stop its engines.
Around midnight on Thursday, the coast guards and the Viking Squad boarded Bandero, detaining its crew. Paul Watson was not onboard. The Captain Paul Watson Foundation stated that the 21 crew members remained detained without access to their phones.
Upon arrival in Reykjavik on Friday, the police took over the investigation. Icelandic broadcaster RUV indicated that authorities plan to deport the crew and prevent their return to Iceland.
Iceland continues practicing commercial whaling, alongside Norway and Japan. The nation sets annual quotas for hunting fin and minke whales, exporting most whale meat to Japan, despite reduced demand since Japan resumed commercial whaling in 2019.
The practice has sparked controversy in Iceland, where whale meat is now seldom consumed. Watson, born in Canada, previously led the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, engaging in confrontations with whaling vessels that gained celebrity support and were featured in the series “Whale Wars.” Watson left Sea Shepherd in 2022 to start his own foundation.
In 2024, Watson served five months in a Greenland prison following his arrest on a Japanese warrant related to a 2010 incident obstructing a whaling ship. Released in December 2024, he expressed intentions to avoid capture, stating, “I have to make sure that I don’t land in Iceland or another country where Interpol might try to have me arrested again.” Interpol issued a “red notice” for Watson in 2012, later removing him from the most-wanted list in 2025.
Watson’s aggressive methods have divided his movement, and marine firms accuse activists of risking vessels and lives.
Earlier this year, Bandero collided with a krill trawler in Antarctica. The incident, described by the Norwegian owner as a deliberate attack, endangered its crew and posed environmental risks.