MY Bob Barker
{{Short description|Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
| display title = MY Bob Barker }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = MV Bob Barker in port 2010-03-06.jpg | Ship caption = Bob Barker in port }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Norway | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Norway}} | Ship name = Pol XIV | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Fredrikstad MV, Fredrikstad, Norway | Ship original cost = | Ship registry = Larvik, Norway | Ship owner = Hvalfangerselskap Polaris A/S | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 8 July 1950 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = 1950 | Ship out of service = 1966 | Ship renamed = | Ship honours = | Ship notes = Operated as a whaler until 1962{{cite web|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/matilda/our-fleet.html|title=Our Fleet – M/Y Bob Barker|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=5 June 2010|access-date=8 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115061727/http://www.seashepherd.org/matilda/our-fleet.html|archive-date=15 January 2010|url-status=dead}} }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Norway | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Norway}} | Ship name = Volstad Jr. | Ship registry = Ålesund, Norway | Ship owner = Einar Volstad PR | Ship in service = 1966 | Ship out of service = 1997 | Ship renamed = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Norway | Ship flag ={{shipboxflag|Norway}} | Ship name = * Verdi (1997–1998)
| Ship registry = Bergen, Norway | Ship owner = Lafjord Rederi A/S | Ship acquired = | Ship in service = 1997 | Ship renamed = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Cook Islands | Ship flag = File:Flag of the Cook Islands.svg | Ship name = Polaris | Ship registry = Rarotonga, Cook Islands | Ship owner = Seven Sea Sg Inc | Ship acquired = | Ship in service = 2005 | Ship out of service=2009 | Ship renamed = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = | Ship flag = | Ship name = Bob Barker | Ship owner = Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Ship registry = * {{flagicon|Togo}} Togo
| Ship in service = 2009 |Ship out of service=2022 | Ship identification = *Call sign: 5VBR5
| Ship fate = Scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey 2022 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Ship type = | Ship length = {{cvt|52.2|m|ftin}} | Ship beam = {{cvt|9|m|ftin}} | Ship draught = | Ship draft = {{cvt|5.95|m|ftin}} | Ship propulsion = 1 × {{cvt|3000|hp|lk=in}} diesel engine | Ship capacity = {{cvt|540|m3|USgal}} of fuel | Ship range = | Ship complement = 20–40 }} |
MY Bob Barker was a ship owned and operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, named after the American television game show host and animal rights activist Bob Barker, whose donation of $5 million to the society facilitated the purchase of the ship.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/arts/television/07arts-BOBBARKERWHA_BRF.html|title=Bob Barker, Whale Pal|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|work=The New York Times|date=6 January 2010|access-date=6 January 2010}} She began operating for the group in late 2009 / early 2010 in its campaign against whaling by Japanese fisheries. In October 2010, Sea Shepherd stated that Bob Barker had completed a major refit in Hobart, Tasmania.{{cite news|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-101015-1.html|title=Bob Barker Completes Successful Refit|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|website=seashepherd.org|access-date=2015-10-14|date=2010-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017204516/http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-101015-1.html|archive-date=17 October 2010|url-status=dead}} Hobart became the ship's honorary home port in 2014.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-12/sea-shepherd27s-bob-barker-gets-honorary-home-port-status-in-h/5314792?section=tas|title=Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker gets honorary home port status in Hobart|newspaper=ABC News |date=12 March 2014}}
History
= Overview =
Bob Barker is described as a "long-range fast ice" vessel measuring {{GT|488}}{{csr|register=MSI|id=5280540|shipname=Pol XIV|access–date=14 February 2023}} It was built in Norway in 1950 as the whale catcher Pol XIV, but was deleted from the Norwegian ship registry in 2004, and sold to a Cook Islands registry concern.{{cite news|url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.6937309|title=Sea Shepherd kom med norsk flagg|publisher=Norsk rikskringkasting AS|language=Norwegian|date=8 January 2010|access-date=5 June 2010}} It was eventually purchased by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and refitted in Africa.
On 19 February 2010, Japanese officials said that Bob Barker{{'}}s Togo registry had been withdrawn.{{cite news|url=http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3879821|title=Detained antiwhaling activist in good health: Okada|work=Kyodo News International|date=19 February 2010|access-date=22 February 2010}} On 24 May 2010, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society stated that Bob Barker was now registered under the Dutch flag.{{cite press release|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100524-1.html|title=The Bob Barker Goes Dutch|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=24 May 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528104303/http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100524-1.html|archive-date=28 May 2010}}
= Sea Shepherd operations =
After her African refit, Bob Barker departed Mauritius on 18 December 2009 to join up with the {{MY|Steve Irwin}} and {{MY|Ady Gil}}, the two other Sea Shepherd vessels.{{cite press release|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100105-1.html|title=The Time is Right for Bob Barker to Rescue the Whales|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=5 January 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721235545/http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100105-1.html|archive-date=21 July 2010}} One of its first actions was to take video footage of the collision between Ady Gil and a Japanese security vessel, after which she took aboard the crew from the stricken Sea Shepherd craft.{{cite press release|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100105-4.html |title=Japanese Whalers Ram Sea Shepherd Ship Ady Gil |publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |date=5 January 2010 |access-date=6 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114015158/http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100105-4.html |archive-date=14 January 2010 }}
On 6 February 2010, while obstructing the slip-way of {{ship||Nisshin Maru}} factory ship, Bob Barker collided with {{ship||Yūshin Maru No. 3}}, resulting in a {{convert|3|ft|4|in|m|adj=on}} gash in Bob Barker{{'}}s hull above the waterline. The Institute of Cetacean Research reported minor damage to a handrail and to the hull of its ship.{{cite news|url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2010/2010-02-06-01.html|title=Violence Escalates in Southern Ocean Whaling Battle|work=Environment News Service|date=6 February 2010|access-date=12 February 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10624662|title=Anti-whaling vessel hit again|work=The New Zealand Herald|date=7 February 2010|access-date=13 February 2010}} Both Sea Shepherd and the ICR accused the other of intentionally causing the crash.{{cite news|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100209zg.html|title=Watson to whalers: We will never surrender|work=The Japan Times|date=9 February 2010|access-date=12 February 2010}}
On 25 February 2010, Sea Shepherd reported that Bob Barker, which had been following the whaling fleet after Steve Irwin broke off pursuit to return to port, was suffering from a fuel valve problem and would be returning to port, ending the organization's operations for the 2009–2010 whaling season.{{cite press release|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100225-2.html|title=Sea Shepherd Ships Complete Operations in Southern Ocean for 2010|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=25 February 2010|access-date=25 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228171313/http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100225-2.html|archive-date=28 February 2010|url-status=dead}}
On 9 February 2011, Sea Shepherd reported that Bob Barker, which had been searching for the whaling fleet alongside the Sea Shepherd vessel Gojira (Now {{MV|Brigitte Bardot}}) began blocking Nisshin Maru{{'}}s slipway.{{cite press release|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2011/02/09/sea-shepherd-interrupts-illegal-whale-slaughter-51|title=Sea Shepherd Interrupts Illegal Whale Slaughter|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=9 February 2011|access-date=20 February 2011}} On 18 February 2011, after being aggressively tailed by Bob Barker for over {{cvt|3000|nmi|km|0}}, Nisshin Maru changed course and headed towards Japan, cutting short the 2010–11 whaling season.{{cite press release|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2011/02/18/vso-day-44|title=VSO Day|publisher=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society|date=18 February 2011|access-date=20 February 2011}}
On 5 March 2012, Sea Shepherd reported that after a lengthy search Bob Barker found the whaling fleet's factory ship, Nisshin Maru.Urbina, Ian. "Storming the Thunder," The Outlaw Ocean. Knopf Doubleday. p. 37 {{ISBN?}} Three days later, on 8 March 2012, the whalers left the Southern Ocean for the 2011–12 season.{{cite web|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2012/03/05/eureka-the-whaling-fleet-has-been-found-and-shut-down-1349|title=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society – Eureka! The Whaling Fleet Has Been Found and Shut Down!}}{{cite web|url=http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2012/03/08/the-whalers-head-home-1352|title=Sea Shepherd Conservation Society – The Whalers Head Home! }}
File:MY Bob Barker at Circular Quay Sydney.jpg on 9 June 2012, in dazzle camouflage]]
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On 20 February 2013, the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru rammed Bob Barker, {{MY|Sam Simon}}, Steve Irwin and Sun Laurel multiple times in a confrontation in the Southern Ocean, north of Australia's Casey Research Station in Antarctica.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/a-renegade-trawler-hunted-for-10000-miles-by-vigilantes.html|first=Ian|last=Urbina|title=A Renegade Trawler, Hunted for 10,000 Miles by Vigilantes|newspaper=The New York Times |date=28 July 2015|access-date=1 October 2020}} Bob Barker was hit on the stern, with Nisshin Maru{{'}}s bow knocking down several of Bob Barker{{'}}s antennas. Bob Barker issued a mayday after losing power.{{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=21 February 2013|access-date=20 February 2013|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=26 September 2013|url-status=dead}}
Following repair from damage, January to March 2014 saw Bob Barker embark on "Operation Relentless" - its last Southern Ocean mission, with a total of 99 days at sea. In February Bob Barker was involved in a collision, this time with Yushin Maru No. 3, resulting in the hull of Bob Barker cracking - though damage did not affect ship operations. Damage was significant enough to be visible to the crew from within the ship. On 31 March 2014, Japan was sued by Australia before the International Court of Justice because of its international responsibility for the Institute of Cetacean Research and parent company Kyoto Senpaku, forcing both companies to suspend operations.
However, advances in the radar technologies of whaling fleets made it increasingly difficult for Bob Barker to find and pursue whaling fleets. From 2016 until its retirement in 2022, Bob Barker operated a range of campaigns in West Africa in partnership with several African countries. These campaigns are meant to bring an end to illegal fishing in West African waters. On 12 November 2022, Bob Barker was retired from the Sea Shepherd fleet and sent to Turkey for recycling.{{cite news |title=Remembering the Sea Shepherd Vessel, Bob Barker |url=https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/remembering-vessel-bob-barker/ |access-date=17 November 2022 |publisher=Sea Shepherd Global}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Bob Barker (ship, 1950)|MY Bob Barker}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bob Barker, MY}}
Category:Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships