International environment group Sea Shepherd has rescued up to 40 crew from what it says is a poaching vessel that sank under suspicious circumstances off the coast of west Africa.
Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Sam Simon are in the process of rescuing the entire crew of the "poaching vessel" Thunder and say there are no reported injuries.
Bob Barker captain Peter Hammarstedt said in a statement released on Tuesday that they received a distress signal from the Thunder on Monday afternoon inside the exclusive economic zone off Sao Tome and immediately responded.
The Bob Barker, which launched its summer campaign from Hobart last December, has been engaged in a four-month, record-breaking pursuit of the vessel, which has gone from the Southern, to the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans.
The group claims there were "clear signs the vessel was intentionally scuttled".
Captain Hammarstedt claimed the captain of the Nigerian-flagged vessel clapped and cheered as it sank.
"What was incredibly strange was that the captain of the Thunder, when the vessel did actually sink, started applauding and cheering which I considered to be very unusual behaviour and further evidence that he deliberately sank his vessel," he told Fairfax media.
Share
