Nuclear ships slip past protest yachts

A protest boat chased two British ships carrying nuclear waste for several hours overnight before backing off.

The chase boat, a high-speed inflatable, was launched from the yacht Tiama, one of 10 protest boats which set up a symbolic protest line stretching between Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands in the Tasman Sea, about 300 nautical miles east of Australia.

The area represented a 60 nautical mile gap between New Zealand's and Australia's exclusive sea zones.

The yachts were protesting at the passage of two ships carrying plutonium MOX waste from Japan to Britain through the region.

The two British Nuclear Fuels ships, Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Teal, were loaded with 255kg of the rejected mixture of plutonium and uranium.

The skipper of Tiama, Henk Haazen, said both ships slowed as they approached the protest line, waiting for darkness to slip through and continue their voyage to Britain.

The ships passed the protest line about 1am today, ignoring repeated radio calls from the protest yachts.

The ships were told the protest yachts would not physically impede their passage but they did not want them to pass through because of environmental and safety issues.

"They came right up our bum, quite close to two vessels, Tiama and the French vessel Fio-Oko,"Mr Haazen said.

Tiama then launched its inflatable boat and chased the two ships for nearly eight hours.

However, he said the inflatable crew was not prepared to try and board the ships fearing the 20 "atomic police" aboard would open fire with their automatic weapons.

The ships also had 30mm cannons and Mr Haazen said they believed the crew would be very jittery after the September 11 terrorist attacks in America.

"An inflatable approaching out of the night trying to deliver a package to them did not seem like a particularly good idea."

Mr Haazen said the crews on the ships got the radio message.

"They knew why we are here. It's pretty significant we blocked their passage through the Tasman at least for daylight hours."

He was very happy the protest flotilla had made an international point.

It was very significant that the two ships "were running scared or ashamed" by trying to slip past the fleet at night.

"It is a significant victory for the flotilla.

"What have they got to worry about from us... 10 little boats with their families?" Mr Haazen asked.

The protest fleet was due to disperse today and head back to their home ports in New Zealand, Australia and Vanuatu.

The two nuclear waste ships left Japan on July 4 for the two-month voyage to Britain.

BNF spokesman Mark Scott said protesters had behaved recklessly by pursuing the ships.

He claimed two protesters threw themselves off an inflatable boat in front of one of the ships, forcing the skipper to take evasive action.

The ship passed within 70m of the pair.

"To throw themselves into the water in front of the vessel is the height of maritime lunacy and does Greenpeace no credit whatsoever," he said in a statement.

He said one of the jumpers was Australian New South Wales Senator Ian Cohen, "someone who should know better".

"We have no objection to legitimate protest. This was not legitimate and could have created a situation with grave consequences."

Basic safety had been ignored.

"They should be condemned for their stupidity."

A New Zealand Air Force Orion was sent to monitor the ships' progress this morning.

Defence Minister Mark Burton said the Orion would confirm the location and progress of the ships and return to New Zealand early this afternoon.

"The Government has made clear its opposition to such (nuclear) shipments and, as expected, as with previous shipments, the vessels seem to be staying well clear of New Zealand's 200-mile exclusive economic zone," he said in a statement.

The Joint Force Operational Headquarters at Trentham would continue to monitor the ships' progress.

"New Zealand remains strongly opposed to shipments of nuclear material through the Pacific," Mr Burton said.

- NZPA