PERU'S NAVY SEIZES 5 ONASSIS WHALERS

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090085-7
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
November 16, 2016
Document Release Date: 
March 17, 1999
Sequence Number: 
85
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
November 17, 1964
Content Type: 
NSPR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090085-7.pdf81.4 KB
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& wYORK IT KITS OVi7 i4 Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149R00060 !th's, Navy Seizes S Onassis Whalers) vian air a 1l l naval forces have eiq zed five 'ships of a whaling Beet operated by Aristotle Onas- sis, Greek-born shipowner. The Government announced today the vessels had hunted whales inside the 200-mile offshore zone claimed by Peru. '[In Panama,' dispatches were { received from the Onassis fleet, w$ich is under Panamanian registry, saying the mother ship had been attacked by air 880 miles of Peru. Two other vesselp were machine-gunned 800 miles oft. the coast and or- dered to a Peruvian port, the --=?:. dispatche? added.] operated by Aristotle Onassi Offficials. said the Peruvian said two of the catcher vessels Navy and air arm had been mo- had been machine-gunned 300 biliaed against the Onassis fleet miles off Peru's coast and or- i?z "defense of national sover- dered to a Peruvian port. The ship believed bignty and of the country's ma- have suffered light Conqueror was damage. to e. - rine wealth." Earlier, official Panamanian The announcement said two'inspeftors aboard the mother lured four ships and a fifth had been forced, by.. a Peruvian plane to proceed to the oil port of Talara. The destroyers were said to have caught the whalers Olym- pic Victor and. Olympic Light- ning by surprise abdut 180 miles off' Aguja Point, Two other whalers were captured by the same destroyers forty miles far- ther south, off Talara, the Gov- ernprent reported. The whaling crews `surrend- ered without resistancQQ~ the an- nouncement added.._Ty were transferred to the destroyers and replaced by Peruvian crews who sailed the ships to Pita, northern port. i' .' , Another destroyer ` of d three frigates left Callao M' today for ruvian plane spout 380 miles off Peru. They said-,the ship had not been struck, but the plane was still in the vicinity. The dispatch from the mother ship noted that its position had been 180 miles outside the new 200-mile territorial limit claimed by Peru. Panama informed Peru in September she could not ac- cept this limit. The fleet, left Panama in Au- gust, intending to hunt sperm I whales off Peru until the weather became warm enough to go to the Arctic for blue whales. Help from Ecuador Sought SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 16 (Reuters)-Chile's' Ambassador at Lima reported `to the Foreign Minister today that the Peruvian Government had asked Ecuador to intercept the rest of the whal- ing fleet from Panama. mopping-up operatidtts' ` against the "pirate fleet,",.the_'announce- ment said. Authoritative sourctes said the Peruvian units were 'under or- ders - to fire' on and sink any .whaler -that showed armed re- sistance. They said at least one of the Onassis ships carried guns. r, The seardfi ,will be carried' on even outside Peruvian territorial limits and will cease only when the fleeing ships enter foreign territorial waters, officials said. Limit Rejected by Panama. Speciai to The New York'Times. PANAMA, Nov. 16-Sources close to the Government reported today that dispatches from the Panamanian-flag whaling fleet Mr. Onassis said here yester- day that he understood that Pan- ama and Peru had reached on agreement oh his South Pacific whaling activities. 'He has operated a fleet of streamlined whalers in southern waters for several years. But Chile, Ecuador and Peru met last month and decided to assert their claims to a 200-mile offshore limit. Seventeen of the Onassis fleet of nineteen vessels were reported to have le#l anama for opera- tions. Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090085-7