Iceland seized the protest vessel Bandero and detained all 21 crew members after a commercial whaler reported safety concerns. The ship reached Reykjavík and Icelandic police have taken over the investigation; prosecutors plan to seek deportation and bans on return. The incident involves the Captain Paul Watson Foundation—Watson was not on board—and underscores growing tensions over the few countries that still allow commercial whaling.
Iceland Seizes Anti-Whaling Vessel Linked to Paul Watson Foundation, Detains 21 Crew
FILE - Paul Watson poses after an interview after Interpol took the anti-whaling campaigner off its most-wanted list, Wednesday, July 23, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
Icelandic authorities say the coast guard and a police special forces unit boarded and seized the protest vessel Bandero, detaining its crew after a commercial whaler alerted officials that its safety was at risk.
The Icelandic Coast Guard said the crew of the whaling ship Hvalur 9 called Thursday evening reporting they felt threatened by the Bandero. According to the coast guard, the Bandero ignored repeated orders to leave Icelandic waters and later refused an instruction to stop its engines.
Shortly before midnight on Thursday, coast guard teams and the police special forces unit known as the Viking Squad boarded the Bandero and took its crew into custody. Paul Watson, founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, was not aboard.
The foundation confirmed the seizure and said all 21 crew members were being detained on board and had their phones confiscated. The vessel arrived in Reykjavík on Friday, and Icelandic police have taken over the investigation. State broadcaster RÚV reported prosecutors plan to seek deportation of the crew and bar them from returning to Iceland.
Context and Background
Iceland is one of a small number of countries—alongside Norway and Japan—that still permit commercial whaling. The government issues annual quotas for fin and minke whales taken in Icelandic waters. Most Icelandic whale meat has historically been exported to Japan, though demand fell after Tokyo left the International Whaling Commission and resumed commercial whaling in 2019.
Whaling is increasingly controversial in Iceland, where whale meat is now rarely eaten domestically.
About Paul Watson
Paul Watson, 75, a Canadian-born activist, founded the Captain Paul Watson Foundation after leaving the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2022. Watson attracted international attention with confrontational campaigns against whalers—efforts that were profiled on the reality series "Whale Wars" and that led to multiple arrests. In 2024 he spent five months in prison in Greenland after being detained on a Japanese warrant related to an alleged 2010 obstruction; he was released in December 2024. An Interpol "red notice" issued in 2012 was lifted in 2025.
"I have to make sure that I don't land in Iceland or another country where Interpol might try to have me arrested again," Watson said after his 2024 release.
Previous Incidents
Earlier this year the Bandero was involved in a collision with a Norwegian-owned industrial krill trawler in Antarctic waters. The trawler's owner characterized the incident as deliberate and said it endangered the crew and could have triggered an environmental disaster.
Authorities in Iceland are continuing the investigation; potential outcomes include deportation of the detained crew and restrictions on their future access to Icelandic waters. The case highlights ongoing tensions between anti-whaling activists and nations that continue commercial whaling.
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