Danish Naval vessel P572 follows Paul Watson vessel back to Canada after arrest in Greenland.

HALIFAX, CANADA – AUGUST 8TH, 2024 – After departing Greenlandic waters following the arrest of Canadian-American environmentalist Paul Watson, co-founder of marine conservation Greenpeace, founder of Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), his marine conservation ship has been closely followed by Danish Naval vessel P572 on a 3000km journey south to Halifax, Canada.

Watson had stopped in Greenland on board the 72-meter flagship the M/Y JOHN PAUL DEJORIA, along with 24 volunteer crew, to refuel, en route to the NorthWest Passage as part of the CPWF’s Operation Kangei Maru, a mission to intercept Japan’s newly-built factory whaling ship Kangei Maru in the North Pacific.

“The Danish naval ship was lurking off Nuuk Harbor in Greenland when Paul Watson was arrested and has spent the last 4 days closely following behind us inside Canadian waters since we entered the Strait of Belle-Isle. I am sure they will say it’s a routine exercise, but the timing is suspicious. This morning the vessel decided, after matching our course and speed for several days, to overtake us and get to Halifax in a big hurry”, stated Locky MacLean, Captain of the John Paul DeJoria.

The port call in Halifax comes after Paul Watson’s surprise arrest in Greenland by Danish police, on an international ‘red notice’ issued by Japan relating to Paul Watson’s previous anti-whaling interventions in the Antarctic region. Japan’s Antarctic research whaling program JARPA was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2014.

Watson’s arrest has since sparked international outrage, making headlines around the world and igniting a global #FreePaulWatson movement, with high profile public figures such as primatologist Jane Goodall, actor and activist Brigitte Bardot, and French President Emmanuel Macron calling for his immediate release.

“We are not sure why Denmark is putting such resources into this operation, and why they would dispatch a naval vessel to closely follow our movements on an international voyage. We continue to implore the Danish government to make the right choice here; to release Captain Watson and not entertain a politically-motivated request from Japan”, stated Locky MacLean, Ship Operation’s Director for CPWF.

Operating in breach of the ICJ ruling for several years, Japan eventually ceased Antarctic high-seas whaling in 2016, and has until 2018 only hunted whales within its territorial waters. Since Watson’s arrest less than two weeks ago, Japan has announced that they have resumed the hunt of endangered Fin Whales, the world’s second largest animal. CPWF believes Japan is planning to resume high-seas whaling in the North Pacific as early as this year. The reactivation of the red notice against Captain Watson is politically motivated and coincides with the launch of a newly-built factory whale processing vessel.

In Nuuk, over a dozen Danish police and SWAT team members boarded the M/Y John Paul DeJoria as soon as it made port, supported by two naval vessels, one docked inside the harbor, and the second, P572, stationed outside the port. The same vessel has tailed the marine activists for the last four days since entering Canadian waters. At the time of writing, Watson remains in custody and awaits a decision by the Danish Ministry of justice on August 15th in regard to Japan’s extradition request.