The American organisation Sea Shepherd has two ships sailing under the Dutch flag. The Netherlands provided the necessary certificate of registry for this in 2007, after Sea Shepherd had promised in writing not to use violence and to comply with the safety rules. Nonetheless, a number of incidents have taken place between Sea Shepherd ships and Japanese whalers in the Antarctic.

Japan has repeatedly complained to the Netherlands about the Sea Shepherd. It appears difficult at the moment to take action against ships that do not comply with the rules, so the cabinet wants to speedily extend its legal options for withdrawing certificates of registry, according to Huizinga.

~~~~~~~~make some waves and speak up!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we want to keep the Steve Irwin chasing the whalers>>

[ http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/appeal-to-the-dutch-government-who-wants-emergency-act-against-environmental-pirates-sea-shepherd]