Purchased thanks to a donation by a generous couple from the Northern Beaches of Sydney, the Allankay is a 54.5-meter former Patagonian toothfish fishing vessel, ice-strengthened and suited to working in polar climates.

Operation Antarctica Defense, the maiden campaign of Allankay, follows a long history of Sea Shepherd successes protecting the Antarctic.

In 2017, after 15 years of Sea Shepherd’s direct action campaigns to end illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary that resulted in over 6,000 whales saved, the Japanese government abandoned the Antarctic whale hunt.

In 2015, the Sea Shepherd Global ships Bob Barker and Sam Simon (now known as the Age of Union) chased Thunder, a notorious toothfish poacher wanted by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) for 110-days until its captain, unable to shake pursuit, sank the vessel in an effort to destroy the evidence on board. Publicity from the longest maritime chase in history resulted in the arrest of the sister ships of Thunder, bringing an end to their illegal fishing activities in the Southern Ocean.

Today there’s a new threat facing Antarctica and the marine wildlife that depend on it, requiring us to head south once more. Sea Shepherd Global has the experience and the resolve to defend the Southern Ocean’s unique ecosystem, a vital keystone in the health of our planet.