The international non-profit marine conservation organization, Sea Shepherd, has launched its new patrol boat. The Ocean Warrior was built over 18 months at the Damen shipyard, a Dutch shipbuilding company, and launched on Friday, January 1 er july 2016 in the Turkish port of Antalya.
"This is a great day for Sea Shepherd and all of our supporters, and a dark day for the poachers," said Captain Alex Cornelissen, Executive Director of Sea Shepherd Global. "The launch of the Ocean Warrior marks the beginning of an era for our organization, now that we have a boat with the speed and capacity to rival the fastest poaching vessels in the world."
The Ocean Warrior is now the fifth vessel in Sea Shepherd's fleet of conservation vessels. It is thanks to the support and generosity of the Dutch Nationale Postcode Loterij, the British People's Postcode Lottery and the Swedish Svenska Postkod Stiftelsen that the NGO was able to obtain a new vessel.
Geert Vons, director of Sea Shepherd Netherlands, said: "We are extremely grateful to the Nationale Postcode Loterij, the People's Postcode Lottery and Svenska Postkod Stifelsen for their generosity in allowing us to have the Ocean Warrior built. This new vessel will give our crews a huge advantage on the high seas, strengthening our ability to defend the precious wildlife of our oceans."
The patrol boat will start its maiden voyage to Amsterdam in September, under the command of Captain Cornelissen. Nevertheless, we will have to wait a little longer to know the details of the first official anti-poaching campaign of the vessel.
"We can't reveal any details about the Ocean Warrior's activities past Amsterdam at this time. We are certain, however, that the announcement of a campaign we are planning for the next few months will delight our supporters said Cornelissen.
Sea Shepherd's mission is to stop the destruction of marine ecosystems and the killing of species in order to conserve and protect the biodiversity of the world's oceans.
