Icelandic Authorities Seize Anti-Whaling Vessel and Detain Crew

The Icelandic Coast Guard and special forces have seized the ship operated by a group linked to anti-whaling activist Paul Watson. They detained the crew, according to officials from Iceland.

Incident Details

On Thursday evening, the crew of the whaling ship Hvalur 9 sought help, fearing a threat from the protest vessel Bandero. The Icelandic Coast Guard stated that the Bandero ignored orders to leave the waters and later failed to comply with a command to halt its engines.

As a result, coast guards and the police special forces Viking Squad boarded the vessel around midnight on Thursday. They detained the crew onboard. Paul Watson was not present on the vessel, which arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, on Friday. The police have assumed control of the investigation, and the coast guard agency confirmed the events.

Crew Detention

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation acknowledged the seizure in a statement. It noted that 21 crew members were being held onboard without access to phones. Iceland’s national broadcaster, RUV, reported plans to deport the crew and prevent their future return to Iceland.

Whaling in Iceland

Iceland remains one of the few countries, alongside Norway and Japan, that continue to engage in commercial whaling. The nation sets annual quotas for hunting fin and minke whales within its waters. Most of the whale meat is exported to Japan. However, demand in Japan has decreased since it left the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2019 to resume commercial whaling.

Whaling has become increasingly controversial in Iceland, where whale meat is seldom consumed locally.

Background on Paul Watson

Paul Watson, 75, originally from Canada, was a former leader of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. His aggressive tactics on the high seas have been supported by celebrities and featured in the TV series “Whale Wars.” His actions have frequently led to legal trouble.

Watson was jailed in Greenland for five months in 2024, following his arrest on a Japanese warrant related to obstructing a whaling vessel in 2010. Upon his release in December 2024, he stated intentions to avoid being captured again. Watson remarked, “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 had issued a “red notice” for Watson in 2012, but he was removed from their most-wanted list in 2025.

Controversy and Criticism

Watson’s confrontational methods have caused divisions within the movement he initiated. Marine industry firms have accused anti-whaling activists of putting ships and lives at risk.

Earlier in the year, the ship Bandero collided with a Norwegian industrial krill trawler in Antarctica. The trawler’s owner alleged that this was a deliberate attack by the Bandero, risking the crew’s safety and potentially leading to an environmental disaster.