They were held in Reykjavik since last week when their ship, which was chasing a whale hunting vessel, was seized.
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The ship “Bandero,” belonging to the animal rights activist Paul Watson’s (Polo Votsono) foundation, was boarded by officials near the coast of Iceland because the ship was interfering with the operations of one of the last Icelandic whale hunting vessels, “Hvalur 9.”
“All members of the ‘Bandero’ crew have now been served with a notice of deportation and a ban on returning,” police spokesperson Gunnar Runar Sveinbjornsson told AFP via email.
One of the former members of “Bandero” told AFP that the activists initially intended to ram the whale hunting ship but did not manage to and instead launched an inflatable boat to deploy a net that would damage the whale hunting ship’s propellers. This plan also failed.
Icelandic police accused the activists of “suspected violations of international maritime law and endangering maritime safety” and requested their deportation and a ban on returning to Iceland.
Among those who were on the “Bandero” were Americans, Brazilians, French, and Spaniards, according to a list provided by P. Watson’s foundation.
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P. Watson himself was not on the ship.
The crew was held confined on the ship in Reykjavik harbor, but on Wednesday the police announced that they can now leave the ship.
The foundation stated that their ship was in international waters when officials boarded it.
It said the detention of the crew was excessive and condemned the confiscation of their phones.
Iceland is one of the few countries where commercial whaling is still allowed – others are Norway and Japan.
The Icelandic government plans to introduce a bill this fall aiming to ban this practice.
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