THUNDER CAPTAIN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON AND FINED 15 MILLION EUROS

Christa Carew shared Paul Watson's post to the group: SEA SHEPHERD SUPPORTERS UNITED. via Facebook.com

5 hrs · 

Paul Watson added 5 new photos.

5 hrs · Paris, France · 

THUNDER CAPTAIN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON AND FINED 15 MILLION EUROS.

The captain and two engineer on the Norwegian-built pirate trawler "Thunder" weretoday sentenced by the Sao Tome and Principe Court.

On April 6th this year the outlaw toothfish poacher THUNDER was scuttled by her Chilean captain in the waters of the small island state of Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa. It put an end to the career of the world's most notorious toothfish poacher. The scuttling followed a 110-day pursuit by the Sea Shepherd ships BOB BARKER and SAM SIMON. It was the longest pursuit of a poaching vessel in Maritime history, from the coast of Antarctic south of India, to the equator off West Africa.

After the scuttling, the SAM SIMON rescued 42 officers and crew and turned them over to the Sao Tome Coast Guard. The crew, mainly Indonesians and suspected to be virtual slaves were returned home and the three officers were held pending their trial earlier this month. They were held on charges of pollution and forgery.

At the trial held earlier this month, Sea Shepherd captains Peter Hammarstedt from Sweden and Sid Chakravarty from India along with Sea Shepherd photographer Simon Ager testified against the three officers and provided evidence that the ship was fishing illegally, and that the officers had intentionally scuttled the ship in Sao Tome Principe waters.

Today the Judge delivered the verdict. - all three defendants were found guilty. The captain was sentenced to three years in prison, the chief engineer was sentence to two years and nine months in prison and another engineer to two years and eight months in prison.

Sea Shepherd is very pleased with the verdict which also contains a huge compensation claim.

All three defendants were ordered to pay 15 million euros in compensation to the state of Sao Tome and Principe as compensation for pollution and environmental damage. They have 15-day deadline to appeal the ruling. If they do not pay the compensation within 30 days, they will be transferred to a prison in Sao Tome.

The question is, will the Spanish company that owned the THUNDER pay the fines? Most likely not?

The notorious THUNDER was built in Ulsteinvik in Norway in 1969 and since 2006 had been blacklisted for illegal fishing.

On December 17th Captain Peter Hammarstedt and his crew on the BOB BARKER found the THUNDER off the Banzare Bank of Antarcitca in the Australian Antarctic Territory. It was the start of what would become world history longest ever pursuit at sea. As the BOB BARKER began the chase, the SAM SIMON confiscated 72 kilometres of the net abandoned by the THUNDER.

For nearly four months the BOB BARKER pursued the THUNDER" until April 6th when Chilean Captain Luis Alfonso Rubio Cataldo deliberately scuttled his own ship in the Gulf of Guinea, approximately 250 kilometers from the African mainland. Having failed to escape the pursuit and with nowhere to go the captain decided to destroy the evidence and sank his own ship.

But before the THUNDER disappeared below the surface three Sea Shepherd activists including Simon Ager boarded the sinking trawler to secure evidence of illegal fishing and evidence of the deliberate scuttling of the vessel. What they saw convinced them that the trawler was sunk intentionally. All the bulkheads and doors were tied and locked wide open. The captain’s defense was that the THUNDER sank after a collision with a cargo ship but the crews of the SAM SIMON and BOB BARKER had the THUNDER under observation at all times and did not see any cargo ship. The court found the captain’s story to be without credibility.

Also convicted were chief engineer Agustin Dosil Rey (46) from Galicia in Spain and second engineer Luis Miguel Perez Fernandez (43), also from Galicia.

The court established that the THUNDER was sailing under a false flag and with false documents when it sank.

Last week in Chile, United States Secretary of State John Kerry cited the pursuit of the THUNDER and acknowledged Sea Shepherd’s role in bringing the poachers to justice.

"The search for Thunder showed huge seas are unregulated and that there are unscrupulous people who hunt money in these areas” added Kerry as reported in the New York Times.

Photos: By Simon Ager. The THUNDER going under - scuttled in 3000 meters of water. Ship sunk, 72 kilometers of gill net seized, Officers jailed.15 million Euros in fines. Sea Shepherd's Operation Icefish was 100% successful.

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Western oil groups warn Nigeria against overhaul of contracts

Western oil groups warn Nigeria against overhaul of contracts

Oct 12th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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Western oil executives are warning Nigeria against major changes to commercial contracts that could lead to the government taking a bigger share of revenues from the country’s deepwater fields, FT reports.

The decision – which the government says will affect Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Eni (NYSE:E) and others “in the weeks and months ahead” – has sparked concern among execs who say they know nothing of the details are have not been contacted.

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Posted in: Africa, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Nigeria, Oil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell.
Tagged: Chevron · ExxonMobil · Nigeria · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Seeking Alpha ·Shell

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Nigeria: The Morality and Mortality in Alamieyeseigha’s Death and Diezani Alison-Madueke’s Illness

Nigeria: The Morality and Mortality in Alamieyeseigha’s Death and Diezani Alison-Madueke’s Illness

Oct 12th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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Nigeria: The Morality and Mortality in Alamieyeseigha’s Death and Diezani Alison-Madueke’s Illness

OPINION

By Adeolu Ademoyo

Depending on the context, death and illness are two occurrences, which are often difficult to write and talk about. This broad challenge is made more complicated in a contemporary African context-in this case Nigerian context- that is disposed to irrationality. The belief is: Do Not Speak Ill of The Dead and The Ill.

While there is some deep ethical meaning to the thought that we should not speak ill of the ill and the dead, our irrational context driven by sentiments and ethnic politics will often make us lose the high moral implication of such thought. The high ground of ethics and spirituality enjoin us not to speak ill of the dead and the ill not because the moral status or otherwise of the ill and the dead when they were alive, hale and hearty. On the contrary, we are enjoined not to speak ill because they may not have the mortal space and time like us-who is yet to answer the final call- to defend themselves.

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Posted in: Corruption, Nigeria, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Tagged: Corruption · Diezani Alison-Madueke · Nigeria · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

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Alaska mulls extra oil drilling to cope with climate change

Alaska mulls extra oil drilling to cope with climate change

Oct 12th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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By Matt McGrath: Environment correspondent, BBC News, Alaska: 12 Oct 2015

Expanding the search for oil is necessary to pay for the damage caused by climate change, the Governor of Alaska has told the BBC.

The state is suffering significant climate impacts from rising seas forcing the relocation of remote villages.

Governor Bill Walker says that coping with these changes is hugely expensive.

He wants to “urgently” drill in the protected lands of the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge to fund them.

Alaska has been severely hit by the dramatic drop in the price of oil over the past two years.

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Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, BBC News, Chukchi Sea, Climate Change, Environment, Oil Prices, President Obama, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shale Oil, Shell, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Chukchi Sea · Oil · Oil Prices · Royal Dutch Shell Plc ·Shell

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