An Australian customs ship was steaming toward a Japanese whaling vessel to collect three activists after Tokyo decided on Tuesday to release them without charges over their surprise boarding off southwest Australia.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the customs ship will likely take several days to rendezvous with the security ship the Shonan Maru No. 2 to collect the three Australian citizens: Geoffrey Owen Tuxworth, 47, Simon Peterffy, 44, and Glen Pendlebury, 27. All are from Western Australia state.
The three anti-whaling activists boarded the Shonan Maru No. 2 on Sunday as it tailed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's flagship the Steve Irwin.
Gillard thanked Japan for its cooperation and criticized the boarding tactic as "unacceptable and will ultimately be costly to the Australian taxpayer." (AP)
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