RV Farley Mowat

The RV Farley Mowat is a conservation patrol vessel owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The vessel is named after author Farley Mowat, one of the society's patrons.

File:FarleyMowat small.jpg

Farley Mowat docked at Docklands, Melbourne, Australia

Farley Mowat purchased in August, 1996, a new long-range, ice-class, heavy-duty, conservation enforcement ship in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Originally christened Sea Shepherd III, she was re-named Ocean Warrior in 1999 to reflect the missions and campaigns that face her in the new millennium.

The ship was built in 1956 as a Norwegian Fisheries research and enforcement ship. At 54 meters (180 ft) in length and 657 tons (displacement), her one-inch thick riveted, welded steel hull was built to withstand the violent pounding of the storm-haunted North Sea.

The ship's massive German-built diesel engine drives a variable pitch propeller that is protected inside a Kort nozzle. This means 1400 horsepower, coupled with the swift maneuverability of bridge control of he pitch.

In 2002, after months of bureaucratic paper shuffling and payments of extortionist demands by the Cayman Islands Bureau of Shipping, the Ocean Warrior was re-registered in Canada. She was renamed the Farley Mowat after Sea Shepherd's International Chair, Farley Mowat, Canadian author and animal welfare advocate.

The Sea Shepherd flagship, the R/V Farley Mowat officially began her career in the waters off Costa Rica appropriately immersed in controversy over policing actions against illegal fishing activities.

External links

• Brief description of the vessel, with photos, from a philatelic society's site, dating to a visit the Farley Mowat made to New Zealand.
• Description from SeaShepherd's site].