Elvis Teddy, the captain of San Pietro, the iwi owned boat, has been "charged with operating a vessel in unsafe manner under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act." The charge will be defended and it will be interesting to watch the crown case fall apart.
NZH
After repeated warnings the three other boats moved away but the San Pietro stayed and deployed buoys and fishing lines in the path of the survey ship, causing "grave safety concerns" for the ship's master, Superintendent Bruce Dunstan said.
The San Pietro was stationary and 1.5 nautical miles from petrobras's Orient Explorer. It is the repeated warnings bit that they don't like, nevermind the law of the sea. This escalation is a bad sign - for the authorities - it shows they are floundering, it shows they are desperate and it shows us what we must do - support this action and the people on the water in any way we can.
Hone has come out with a strong statement
MP Hone Harawira is calling the arrest a disgrace. Harawira says no New Zealander challenging the right of a government to deep sea oil drilling should have their own warships come speeding over the horizon to arrest them.Good stuff Hone, and
The San Pietro belongs to East Coast iwi Te Whanau a Apanui. The iwi say they were exercising their customary right to fish in the area. Independent Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira is furious at the arrest. Mr Harawira says it is a disgrace Defence Force personnel helped arrest the man yesterday. He says it is wrong for a New Zealand citizen to be threatened by the military for opposing a deal between the government and a foreign oil company.
Mr Harawira believes it is a make or break situation for the Maori Party, and he is urging the party he left recently to walk away from National.This is very good - the leadership and mana of Hone is really starting to shine. And we will need strong leadership to stop these expoilters.
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