Icelandic Coast Guard Boards and Seizes Paul Watson Foundation Vessel Bandero, Captain Arrested

The Icelandic Coast Guard and a police special forces team boarded and seized the Captain Paul Watson Foundation vessel Bandero on July 31, arresting the vessel's captain after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with Coast Guard orders to leave Icelandic coastal waters.

The Bandero, a 500-ton, 65-metre motor yacht, had been operating in Icelandic waters as part of the foundation's anti-whaling campaign, tracking the commercial whaling vessel Hvalur 9. The Coast Guard received a report on July 30 that the crew of Hvalur 9 felt threatened by the Bandero, which had entered within Iceland's 12-nautical-mile coastal zone. Multiple orders to depart (issued by radio and by helicopter) went unanswered. When Coast Guard vessel Freyja arrived and ordered the Bandero to stop engines, the captain again disobeyed. The special squad boarded the vessel around midnight and the captain was apprehended. The Bandero was directed to Reykjavik.

The case has been handed to police and prosecutors for investigation. Captain Paul Watson was not aboard the vessel. The Bandero remains docked in Reykjavik.