The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd is being accused of attacking the Japanese vessel Kaiko Maru in Antarctica.
 
The Kaiko Maru claims protesters used their vessel the Steve Irwin to ram and throw bottles of butyric acid onto the Japanese ship.
 
The Japanese crew allege the Steve Irwin spent three hours in dangerous close-quarters harassing them by repeatedly overtaking and circling the research vessel. The Kaiko Maru's topside starboard rear bulwark was damaged but it will not stop its current operation.
 
The Kaiko Maru is describing the Sea Shepherd is a terrorist vigilante group that is operating outside of the confines of international maritime law.
 
It says their activity threatens the safety of the Japanese crews and scientists and should not be condoned.
 
The Director General of the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, Minoru Morimoto, says under the International Whaling Commission Japan has a legal right to conduct scientific research in the Antarctic.