On Saturday (4 May) the Green Britain Foundation and Neptune’s Pirates UK unveil the Nemesis, a vessel on a mission to take non-violent direct action against whaling, super trawling and ocean habitat destruction.
This all-weather vessel, now owned by the Green Britain Foundation, the charity founded by the eco-entrepreneur and green industrialist, Dale Vince OBE in 2012, and originally built as one of four New South Wales Police patrol boats for the Australian Olympics.
The flagship of Neptune’s Pirates, the Nemesis will be at the forefront of marine conservation. The vessel will have multiple roles including marine patrols around the UK and anti-whaling campaigns in the North Atlantic region.
Neptune’s Pirates UK are known for their fearless tactics. Campaigns include opposing commercial whaling in Iceland and dolphin hunts in the Faroe Islands as well as Japan. The Pirates have also been operating clean up dives for dumped fishing nets in UK waters and regular beach clean-ups around our coastline.
Neptune’s Pirates aka Captain Paul Watson Foundation previously operated under the name Sea Shepherd. The Nemesis is an all-weather patrol vessel owned by the Green Britain Foundation, the charity founded by the eco-entrepreneur and green industrialist, Dale Vince OBE.
“The Nemesis and its brave crew will operate on the frontlines of the battle to protect our marine wildlife. From intercepting super trawlers to confronting whaling and tackling the scourge of ocean plastic, the Nemesis and her crew are here to confront environmental vandalism wherever we find it. Calling it out is not good enough, we need to intervene to stop it happening.
This is what Neptune’s Pirates do so well. Bold interventions are crucial if we're serious about preserving our oceans.”
Dale Vince, OBE, and honorary patron of Neptune’s Pirates
The Nemesis boasts a striking custom dazzle camouflage design inspired by wartime naval paint schemes. This makes it difficult to estimate its speed, range and heading. The pink colouring is a nod to Vince’s football club, Forest Green Rovers away kit which has Neptune’s Pirates as its charity partner.
“We’re immensely grateful to Dale and the Green Britain Foundation for the Nemesis. With this boat, we’ll have the ability to run new campaigns further out to sea and across the entire region.
Dale first got involved in 2016 when he reached out to our founder, Captain Paul Watson, to help with fuel for our Southern ocean whaling intervention that year and it’s an honour to now be celebrating the launch of the Foundation’s own boat. We’ll be working her hard with campaigns starting in June and hope everyone will follow our progress. With this new dazzle paintwork - she will be hard to miss”.
Rob Read, Chief Operating Officer, Neptune’s Pirates UK
As Neptune’s Pirates UK embarks on our campaigns for this year we call on as many people as possible to follow the progress of the Nemesis and support their campaigns across the North Atlantic, in advocating for the protection of marine life in UK waters and the North Atlantic.
The Nemesis is the epitome of bold venturism, reflecting Vince’s approach to his businesses, making things happen not just getting stuff done.
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