HELSINKI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Icelandic authorities have ordered the deportation of all 21 crew members of an anti-whaling vessel and the crew members are also subject to re-entry bans, Iceland's national broadcaster RUV reported Wednesday.
The activists have been allowed to leave the vessel but must report regularly to police pending enforcement of the deportation orders.
Police have accused them of suspected violations of international maritime law and endangering maritime safety.
The Bandero, operated by the marine conservation group Captain Paul Watson Foundation, approached the Icelandic whaling vessel Hvalur 9 last Thursday in an attempt to disrupt its voyage.
The crew of Hvalur 9 requested assistance after reporting that they believed their safety was under threat, according to the Icelandic Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard said the Bandero had failed to comply with orders to leave Icelandic waters. Coast Guard personnel and a police special forces unit subsequently boarded the vessel and took control of it. The Bandero was brought into Reykjavik harbor last Friday.
The foundation said the Bandero had spent several weeks monitoring Hvalur 9 as part of "Operation 86," its campaign against Iceland's commercial fin whale hunt.
The foundation has also disputed the authorities' handling of the case, alleging that crew members were initially denied access to lawyers of their choice and prevented from contacting their families.
Iceland resumed commercial whaling in June after a two-year pause. It is one of three countries, alongside Norway and Japan, that permit commercial whaling. Most of Icelandic whale meat is exported to Japan, according to RUV. ■
