The Icelandic Coast Guard and a special police unit have arrested the Bandero ship, which is owned by the Paul Watson Foundation, a well-known opponent of whaling. The crew of 21 people was detained after the incident with the Icelandic whaling ship, the Associated Press reported.
According to the Coast Guard, the crew of the whaling vessel Hvalur 9 requested assistance, stating that the vessel posed a threat to their safety. Authorities said Bandero ignored requests to leave Iceland's territorial waters and refused to stop its engines.
After that, Coast Guard officers and Viking Squad fighters boarded the ship and arrested the crew. Paul Watson himself was not on board.
Captain Paul Watson's Foundation confirmed the ship's arrest, saying all 21 crew members were being held on board without access to cellphones.
The ship has already been moved to Reykjavik, where the police are investigating. According to Icelandic media, the authorities intend to deport the crew and prevent them from re-entering the country.
Iceland, along with Norway and Japan, remains one of the few countries in the world where commercial whaling is maintained. Most of the whale meat caught is exported to Japan.
75-year-old Paul Watson is one of the world's most famous whale advocates and the founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation. Earlier, he headed the Sea Shepherd organization, repeatedly participated in actions against whalers and was arrested more than once. In 2024, he spent five months in a Greenland prison at the request of Japan, after which he announced that he would try to avoid countries where he could be arrested by Interpol.
