MY Age of Union
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{short description|Ship}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |display title=MY Age of Union}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image = Sea Shepherd Sam Simon PB.JPG |Ship caption = Age of Union in 2014 as Sam Simon }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header = |Ship country = Japan |Ship flag = File:Flag of Japan.svg |Ship name = Seifu Maru |Ship owner = Japan Meteorological Agency{{cite journal| url= http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=445348|title=430t Type Marine Meteorological and Oceanographical Observation Ship, Seifu Maru |journal= TRID Database|year=1994 |accessdate=18 December 2012}} |Ship operator = Maizuru Marine Observatory |Ship registry = |Ship builder = Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co Ltd |Ship original cost = |Ship yard number = 3035{{cite web|url=http://www.sea-web.com|title=Sam Simon|work=IHS-Fairplay Sea-web database (subscription)|accessdate=18 December 2012}} |Ship laid down = 6 April 1992 |Ship launched = 11 August 1992 |Ship christened = 1993 |Ship completed = 22 January 1993 |Ship in service = 1993–2010 |Ship reinstated = |Ship homeport = Maizuru, Kyoto |Ship identification = {{IMO Number|9053452}}{{cite web|url=http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=572490210|title=Kaiko Maru No. 8|work=MarineTraffic.com|accessdate=16 December 2012}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} |Ship fate = Sold in 2010 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header =title |Ship country = Japan |Ship flag = File:Flag of Japan.svg |Ship name = Kaiko Maru No. 8 |Ship owner = Offshore Operation Co., Ltd |Ship operator = |Ship registry = |Ship acquired = 2010 |Ship in service = 2010–2012 |Ship renamed = 2010 |Ship homeport = |Ship identification =*Call sign: JIVB |Ship fate = Sold in 2012 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header =title |Ship country = Tuvalu |Ship flag = File:Flag of Tuvalu.svg |Ship name = New Atlantis |Ship owner = New Atlantis Ventures LLC |Ship operator = |Ship registry = Funafuti |Ship acquired = September 2012 |Ship in service = September 2012 – December 2012 |Ship out of service = |Ship renamed = |Ship reclassified = |Ship refit = |Ship identification =*Call sign: T2FS4 |Ship fate = Management assumed by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; transferred to Australian register }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header =title |Ship country = Australia |Ship flag = File:Civil Ensign of Australia.svg |Ship name = Sam Simon |Ship namesake = Sam Simon |Ship owner = New Atlantis Ventures LLC |Ship operator = Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |Ship registry = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |Ship acquired = |Ship in service = 2012–2013 |Ship refit = |Ship identification = Call sign: VJN4108 |Ship status = Re-Flagged to the Netherlands }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Netherlands |Ship flag=File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg |Ship name=*2013–2022: {{MY|Sam Simon}}
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder= |Ship original cost= |Ship registry=Rotterdam, Netherlands |Ship owner= New Atlantis Ventures LLC |Ship operator=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= 2013–present |Ship out of service= |Ship identification =*IMO: 9053452 |Ship renamed= |Ship honours= |Ship fate= |Ship status={{Ship in active service}} |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header = |Header caption = |Ship class = Research/Survey Vessel |Ship tonnage = {{GT|484}} |Ship displacement = |Ship length = {{Convert|55.5|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} loa |Ship beam = {{Convert|9.8|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} |Ship height = |Ship draught = {{Convert|3.50|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} |Ship depth = {{Convert|4.30|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} |Ship ice class = |Ship sail plan = |Ship power = One 6-cylinder diesel by Akasaka Diesel Ltd, Japan. {{convert|1800|hp|kW|abbr=on|disp=flip}} |Ship propulsion = Single shaft; controllable-pitch propeller |Ship speed = {{convert|12.9|kn}} – {{convert|18|kn}}{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} |Ship capacity = 200 tons fuel |Ship crew = 43 |Ship notes = }} |
{{MY|Age of Union}} is a vessel of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society fleet, the ship was previously named after American television producer and writer Sam Simon, who donated the money to purchase the vessel. The ship's identity was kept secret, to be revealed when she met the Japanese whaling fleet in 2012, but was identified when her registration was discovered on the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's list of registered ships.{{cite web|url=http://www.amsa.gov.au/Shipping_Registration/List_of_Registered_Ships/Page_55.asp|title=List of Registered Ships|publisher=Australian Maritime Safety Authority|accessdate=10 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908062129/http://amsa.gov.au/Shipping%5FRegistration/List%5Fof%5FRegistered%5FShips/Page_55.asp|archive-date=8 September 2012|url-status=dead}}
Age of Union is the former Japanese weather survey ship Kaiko Maru No 8. Sea Shepherd paid the Government of Japan AUD $2,000,000 for the vessel.{{cite news|url=http://www.watoday.com.au/national/japanese-duped-in-2m-ship-purchase-20121210-2b5ok.html|title=Japanese duped in $2m ship purchase|first=Andrew|last=Darby|newspaper=WAtoday|date=11 December 2012|accessdate=11 December 2012}} She was renamed MV New Atlantis shortly before being moved to Brisbane, Queensland. She was subsequently re-registered under the Australian flag as a pleasure craft called Sam Simon.
Service
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2012}}
Age of Union was built by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co Ltd in Tokyo, Japan as Seifu Maru (清風丸, Seifū Maru – meaning cool breeze), a marine meteorological and oceanographic observation ship. The purpose of Seifu Maru and her sister ships was to conduct observations of the pollution affecting the marine environment in the waters around Japan and the western North Pacific, covering greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting substances, heavy metals, and oils. The Japan Meteorological Agency operated five ships: Chofu Maru (長風丸, 1987), Kofu Maru (高風丸, 1988), Seifu Maru (清風丸, 1993), Ryofu Maru (凌風丸, 1995) and Keifu Maru (啓風丸, 2000). Seifu Maru was operated by the Maizuru Marine Observatory and worked in the Sea of Japan. The Japanese ARGO Program (アルゴ計画) was completed and the un-needed vessel was sold to Offshore Operation Co. Ltd and was renamed Kaiko Maru No 8 in 2010.{{fact|date=May 2022}}
File:Neptune Navy - MY Sam Simon-Hobart 2012.jpg
In September 2012, Kaiko Maru was purchased by New Atlantis Ventures LLC, based in Wilmington, Delaware USA (a shell corporation of Sea Shepherd), and renamed New Atlantis, registered under the flag of Tuvalu. In December 2012, New Atlantis was renamed Sam Simon. $500,000 of upgrades for increased speed and range were undertaken in Brisbane, where she was docked and supplies were taken on board for the voyage to the whale sanctuary.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/red-herrings-allow-protest-group-to-target-japans-whaling-fleet-20121210-2b5kf.html|title=Red herrings allow protest group to target Japan's whaling fleet|first=Andrew|last=Darby|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 December 2012|accessdate=17 December 2012}} The vessel was publicly unveiled in Hobart, Tasmania in December 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2012/12/10/the-sss-sam-simon-is-unveiled-in-hobart-tasmania-1471|title=The SSS Sam Simon is Unveiled in Hobart, Tasmania|first=Locky|last=Maclean|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=10 December 2012|accessdate=18 December 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214065957/http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2012/12/10/the-sss-sam-simon-is-unveiled-in-hobart-tasmania-1471|archivedate=14 December 2012}}
On February 20, 2013, the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru collided with Sam Simon, {{MY|Steve Irwin}} and {{MY|Bob Barker}} multiple times in a confrontation in the Southern Ocean, north of Australia's Casey Research Station in Antarctica.{{cite news| url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Sea-Shepherd-claims-victory-in-Southern-Ocean-after-collisions/tabid/417/articleID/287594/Default.aspx| work=3 News NZ| first=Kim| last=Choe| title=Sea Shepherd claims victory over whalers| date=February 21, 2013| access-date=2013-02-20| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926081649/http://www.3news.co.nz/Sea-Shepherd-claims-victory-in-Southern-Ocean-after-collisions/tabid/417/articleID/287594/Default.aspx#| archive-date=2013-09-26| url-status=dead}}
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The MY Sam Simon currently operates in Europe and West Africa. In Europe, the Sam Simon crew are filming the activities of trawler type vessels in an attempt to draw attention to dolphin bycatch (dolphins unintentionally caught in the nets of the trawlers). In West Africa, the Sam Simon crew are partnering with several Governments to stop illegal fishing happening within West African waters.{{fact|date=May 2022}}
As from 24 May 2021, the MY Sam Simon has been sighted in the Port of Gibraltar for a technical call.{{fact|date=May 2022}}
Sam Simon was renamed Age of Union in January 2022 after a $4.5 million donation by Dax Dasilva.{{cite web |title=Sea Shepherd Welcomes Age of Union to the Fleet |url=https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/age-of-union-welcome/ |website=Sea Shepherd Global |access-date=13 January 2022 |language=en |date=5 January 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|IMO 9053452}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130105152852/http://www.jma-net.go.jp/maizuru/product/marine.html Sea state of the Sea of Japan – Maizuru Marine Observatory (Japanese)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130120083209/http://www.jma-net.go.jp/maizuru/cgi-bin/index.php Sea Meteorological Observation Report – Maizuru Marine Observatory (Japanese)]
- [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=528877747124659&set=pb.127178640627907.-2207520000.1355254153&type=3&theater Images of the Sam Simon]
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Category:Ships built by IHI Corporation
Category:Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships