Anti-whaling flagship docks in friendly territory

CONTROVERSIAL anti-whaling flagship the Steve Irwin will for the next five months call Brisbane home as it undergoes refit work.

The 60m vessel, named after the late Croc Hunter, hit the headlines earlier this year for its dramatic high-seas confrontation with Japanese whalers.

It will dock at the Rivergate Marina at Murarrie until December.

The ship will prepare for the next stage of its Antarctic Whale Defence Campaign, dubbed "Operation Musashi", and be fitted for a new onboard helicopter pad and hangar.

"But the main reason we're here is to thank Brisbane for the support it has shown us over the years," said vessel manager Ben Baldwin, 25, yesterday.

"In the last campaign, we effectively halved the Japanese whalers' quota for the year which we're ecstatic about," he said.

"But next time we intend to drop that number even further and now more than ever support is crucial.

"Our former home Melbourne was good to us but we're excited to be in Queensland."

He said the crew was still trying to organise free public tours of the ship.

Tensions between whalers and the Irwin came to flashpoint in January, when two of the crew - Benjamin Potts, 28, and Briton Giles Lane, 33 - boarded a whaling ship and were taken into custody by Japanese authorities.

Interim captain Malcolm Holland, 33, who volunteered 18 months ago, said the confrontation in January was "terrifying".

"When two of your own are taken away and you don't know if they are safe it can be scary," he said.

Harbouring in Brisbane is close to a homecoming for Captain Holland, whose parents live on the Sunshine Coast.

Most of the 22 crew are Australians but its volunteers also hail from Germany, Belgium, Canada and the UK.

Belgian Ann-Sofie Schreurs, 23, applied as a volunteer eight months ago and said she was thrilled by her first visit to Australia.

"I'm due to go back home in a month but it's beautiful here," she said.

"I'm deciding whether to stay on and see out the next campaign to Antarctica."

It is believed the organisation has prevented Japanese whalers from catching more than 1000 whales over the past two years.

Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society which owns the Irwin, is due in Brisbane later this year to captain the ship on its trip to Antarctica.