In 1986 two activists from the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd flew to Iceland to carry out the only action which has been characterized by Icelandic politicians as a successful terrorists act in Iceland. The action was carried out in protest of Iceland‘s defiance of the moratorium on whaling which had been implemented by the International Whaling Commission in January of 1986.
On the evening of November 8 the two activists broke into the whale processing station of Hvalur hf in Hvalfjörður fjord, north of Reykjavík vandalizing machinery, computers and power generators, leaving the factory inoperable. Shortly after midnight on November 9 they snuck into two of the whaling boats of Hvalur hf in the old harbour in downtown Reykjavík, opening their cooling valves, causing the ships to sink.
The two boats, Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 were raised from the bottom of the harbour, but were never used for whale hunting again. For several years the two boats have been resting on dry land in Hvalfjörður, just east of the whale processing plant.
The video, shot by Jaromir Stanczyk shows where the boats are marooned in the beach, a resting place where they are likely to remain until they are towed away to be torn down for scrap metal – or perhaps sold to find some other use than whaling.
As the video shows the boats are not easily accessible, and there is no way of getting onto the boats. The can, however, be seen from the nearby cliff which is only a few minutes’ walk from the road.
In 1986 two activists from the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd flew to Iceland to carry out the only action which has been characterized by Icelandic politicians as a successful terrorists act in Iceland. The action was carried out in protest of Iceland‘s defiance of the moratorium on whaling which had been implemented by the International Whaling Commission in January of 1986.
On the evening of November 8 the two activists broke into the whale processing station of Hvalur hf in Hvalfjörður fjord, north of Reykjavík vandalizing machinery, computers and power generators, leaving the factory inoperable. Shortly after midnight on November 9 they snuck into two of the whaling boats of Hvalur hf in the old harbour in downtown Reykjavík, opening their cooling valves, causing the ships to sink.
The two boats, Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 were raised from the bottom of the harbour, but were never used for whale hunting again. For several years the two boats have been resting on dry land in Hvalfjörður, just east of the whale processing plant.
The video, shot by Jaromir Stanczyk shows where the boats are marooned in the beach, a resting place where they are likely to remain until they are towed away to be torn down for scrap metal – or perhaps sold to find some other use than whaling.
As the video shows the boats are not easily accessible, and there is no way of getting onto the boats. The can, however, be seen from the nearby cliff which is only a few minutes’ walk from the road.
