Guide to the ships

MV Esperanza	Nisshin Maru	MV Steve Irwin
ORGANISATION
Greenpeace International	Largest of the six Japanese whaling ships	Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
ON BOARD
39 people, from 23 countries	Whalers and scientists	41 people, led by Paul Watson
LENGTH
72m	130m	53m
SPEED
15 knots	15 knots	16.5 knots
AIM
Non-violent obstruction of Japanese whaling fleet	Catch 935 minke, 50 fin and 50 humpback whales for research	Undertakes direct action to combat what it says are illegal actions at sea
TACTICS
Steer inflatable boats in between the whales and harpoons	Three boats harpoon the whales and bring them to the Nisshin Maru for processing	Has rammed ships, and used smoke bombs in the past
HISTORY
The ship was built in Poland 1985, bought by Greenpeace in 2002	Since the 1986 whaling moratorium the Japanese government has allowed hunting under scientific permits	Formerly the MY Robert Hunter, it was renamed in December to honour the late conservationist