HI ALL,
I DISCOVERED UMESATO HERE IN PERTH / FREMANTLE PORT SHIPPING WEB NOTES PRIOR TO CHRISTMAS. PARKED OUT OF FREMANTLE PORT IN GAUGE RODES THEN INTO PORT THE NEXT DAY TO BERTH BESIDE AN EX WHALING GUN BOAT SHONAN MARU #2 FOR SEVEN HOURS PRIOR TO THE SHONAN MARU #2 DEPARTING. SHIPS ONLY PARK IN GAUGE RODES FOR TWO REASONS, NO SPACE IN PORT OR IS AN ARMED VESSEL AND CUSTOMS NEED TO DO THE REQUIRED INSPECTIONS ETC FOR FIREARMS BEING DECLARED ON BOARD. I KNEW THAT SOMETHINGS SMELLED HERE BUT COULD NOT RAISE ANY ALARMS. I CALLED SEA SHEPHERD AND THIS INTEL THEN CONFIRMED FOR THEM THAT THE BARBARIAN'S FLEET HAD TRAVELLED DOWN THE WESTERN SIDE OF OZ TO HIDE FROM SEA SHEPHERD.
MUCH MORE OF THE STORY TO TELL YOU BUT YESTERDAY THE JAPANESE GOV. CONFIRMED THAT THEIR COAST GUARD OFFICERS WERE ONBOARD WITH THE FLEET. LOTS OF VARY SNEEKY TACTICS GOING ON HERE. I WILL POST INFO AND PICS OF THE NECESARY LATER ON. I HAVE ALSO MADE AN APPROACH TO THE MUA TO BAN THE JAP FLEET FROM OUR PORTS. WATCH THIS SPACE. SO IF YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE PART OF THE FLEET, YOU ARE CORRECT GENTLEMEN. :-)

Hi Steve

Understood. Thank you for letting me know, and for supplying the line of reasoning.

Yours

Clyde

Personally, I would doubt it - the whaling is being carried out by another [?] Japanese outfit called the Cetacean Research Organisation [or something along those lines].
With the opposition being shown by Australia to the whaling operation, I would have thought that any vessel engaged in that enterprise would be the equivalent of 'persona non gratis' in Australia.

David Ford