Pete Bethune sues Sea Shepherd for $500,000

27/02/2013 10:48:34 a.m.

ANIL wrote:

Good luck getting anything out of that crook Watson. They have definitely lost the plot and are more interested in publicity for themselves than their actual worthy cause.

21/12/2012 1:30:35 p.m.

Maishley wrote:

Marcus: What happened? A fisherman was killed? When and how did that occur?

12/08/2012 10:08:05 a.m.

marcus wrote:

So .. Pete now has the death of a fisherman and the destruction of the Ady Gil to his claim to fame. Maritime NZ found both skippers to be at fault in the Ady Gil and Shonan incident. If you read the court transcripts from Petes driver in the fishermen case. Petes driver clearly states he did see lights ahead but mistook them for marker lights. We still here Petes camp parrot on that it wasn't Petes fault as he was asleep and the fishermen had no lights. No true about the lights. To have only one person awake and 3 asleep at night traveling at high speed is incompetent. And Pete was all over the skipper of the tanker that ran aground off the bay of plenty south of Auckland. Saying its always the skippers fault whether they are on the bridge or not. Either Ady Gil should be sueing Pete for the loss or Sea Shepherd should be sueing Pete for the loss. Or if it was still Petes boat then Pete should be sueing the Japanese if he believes it was their fault. He did board the Shonan to hand its skipper a bill didn't he? And for Pete to say it breaks his heart..oh please. And I thought he did it all for the Whales? Now he says he did it for Sea Shepherd...even after Paul Watson says very clearly on camera to Pete he thought it better Pete didn't board and went home to speak with media.

6/08/2012 11:55:34 a.m.

atrout wrote:

@Roger.. I don't know if you have any sea-time or if you have watched all the video coverage. Have you read the inquiry's findings? Pete spent the earlier part of that day doing the same thing that got him hit. He was going across the bows of the Japanese ship at the last minute in order to harass the opposition. He was NOT out of diesel. He was very low on fuel but not adrift in any sense other than in judgement. Roger, you've been sucked in by the propaganda and you have little or no knowledge of the sea. Also the video which you have seen was taken from a changing position. Take the helm on a 300 ton vessel some day, stay there during some maneuvering and then view all the videos. You will then be qualified to speak, not to just rabbit propaganda.

3/08/2012 7:19:37 p.m.

Roger wrote:

To all of you that say he piloted the Ady Gil to be in front of the Japanese ship, rewatch the episode. He was almost out of gas and just adrift in the ocean, the Japanese ship sped up and changed its course to aim near the Ady Gil, and at the last second, turn into it. The Ady Gil had no forward movement, so how would it be Pete's fault?

3/08/2012 4:29:40 p.m.

atrout wrote:

Pete is a totally ego driven campaigner. For him the glory of his 'heroic' actions is much more stimulating than actually saving any whales.He was totally responsible for the loss of the Ady Gil. He chose to accelerate across the bows of the Japanese ship and made the colossal mistake of leaving it too late for either vessel to avoid the consequences. Pete also chose to scuttle the Ady Gil while it was still salvageable. Paul may have suckered Pete into that decision but his actions invalidated any claim he may have had for payment for the boat. He destroyed the asset and that is the end of any claim he might have had. If Pete personally owes $600K then someone must have fronted for the costs of any legal action. Pete is either bluffing for publicity purposes or he doesn't realize the risks of suing Seashepherd in the US. What assets does SS have in the US to claim against. All in all, Pete is showing his usual disconnect from reality. He may suffer but his family will probably suffer more. Pete should have thought through his boarding of the Japanese vessel. The results were inevitable and for sure, Paul was pleased to see him go from his ship into Japanese hands. Paul has no time for Pete because of the clash of egos so evident in the video records. Paul screwed Pete over and it has only just sunk into Pete's mind.

1/08/2012 3:17:27 p.m.

Mike wrote:

Eco-terrorists like Sea Shepherd ... actually expecting to get paid for selling them stuff?

I think its a case of the seller needs to be more careful. Yes Sea Shepherd are as dodgey as, but Bethune knew that going in, and still went ahead.

In the open sea, while there are rules of who has right of way, there are also things like ships dont stop or turn on a dime. There is also a requirement to 'give reasonable room'. A smaller boat, like the Ady Gil was faster, and much more manouvable. It would be like someone passing a vehicle on the road, cutting directly infront of another, and jamming brakes on. Now while you can claim that the following vehicle needs to be able to stop in 1/2 the clear distance ahead, by jaming in an obstacle kind of breaks that rule, as the Ady Gil did. Bethune was lucky so little damage was done to the boat, hence it needed him to scuttle it for it to sink as just stopping in front of the fishing vessel wasn't enough to sink it. Bethune is dishonest, so why expect more from Sea Shepherd than Bethunes own dishonesty?

1/08/2012 12:08:56 p.m.

Silverado wrote:

Pete is clearly the stud in this case! Paul plays along for the camera, but runs when he might be going to a Japanese jail. Pete on the other hand knew that he was certainly going to be held when he boarded the Japanese security vessel. Pete if you get the opportunity to build another boat, please put the rudders where they can turn the boat when you need it most. And good luck in court!

1/08/2012 10:46:15 a.m.

Bev Bailey wrote:

To say 'Bethune has turned on his former friends' makes them sound like school chums or next door neighbours. There was a business arrangement in place - a contract of sale - which Sea Shepherd reneged on after Bethune had served his purpose by garnering more publicity (and donations one assumes) than Watson's group had ever had before through the ramming of Ady Gil and the imprisonment of Bethune on camera on 'Whale Wars' and global news. Hopefully the arbitration result will be based on facts. And to AJ, of course it was still in part Bethune's boat bearing in mind Sea Shepherd hadn't paid him in full.

1/08/2012 7:57:26 a.m.

AJ wrote:

Sale? Pete was quoted in 2010 outside the Japanese court : "All I wanted was justice for the loss of my boat, the Ady Gil". My boat? But now it has been 'sold'? Yeah right. If you hadn't been paid for the "sale" of your boat, maybe you shouldn't have been so reckless putting your small boat in front of a moving big boat. Not a smart way of treating the security you had over the supposed debt.