MY Sam Simon

The MY Sam Simon is a vessel in the Sea Shepherd fleet, acquired in 2012. Originally a Japanese survey ship, the Sam Simon was purchased by a donation from Sam Simon. Its purpose was to inflict psychology distress to the whalers, having a Japanese ship turned against them.

History
In 2012, Sea Shepherd stated that Sam Simon made a donation that was able to purchase a ship named after him. The identity of the ship was kept secret until Operation Zero Tolerance was underway.

The Sam Simon was originally known as the Seifu Maru and worked as a weather survey ship from 1992 to 2010, when it was renamed Kaiko Maru No. 8. In 2012, the ship was purchased by New Atlantis Ventures, a dummy company made by Sea Shepherd in order to purchase the ship from Japan. Under the name New Atlantis, it was sailed to Australia by a Japanese crew, before being turned over to Sea Shepherd, who then renamed the vessel Sam Simon. It was publicly unveiled in December, 2012.

Operation Zero Tolerance
During Operation Zero Tolerance, the Sam Simon discovered the whalers' bunker ship, the Sun Laurel and followed it. It attempted to block refueling attempts by the whaling vessels, but was forced to back down when the Yushin Maru and Shonan Maru No. 2 closed in aggressively. The crew of the Sam Simon noticed diesel fuel leaking from the Sun Laurel and collected water samples to turn over to authorities. In February of 2013, the Sam Simon joined the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker in pursuing the Nisshin Maru. During an attempt to refuel, the Nisshin Maru rammed all three Sea Shepherd vessels, as well as the Sun Laurel. The Sam Simon sustained damage to the stern crane. Several days later, the Nisshin Maru rammed the Sam Simon again, this time taking off paint and destroying the radar. After the campaign, the Sam Simon, Steve Irwin, and Bob Barker docked in Melbourne.

In the summer of 2013, the ship was painted with a camouflage pattern and jaws on the bow. A new logo was added and "ANTI-POACHING" was printed on the sides in both English and Japanese. The crane was also serviced.

Operation Relentless
Because of a pending injunction against Sea Shepherd USA The Sam Simon stayed out of the fight and was used by Sea Shepherd as a refueling ship and was placed north of the Ross Sea with the Sun Laurel.

Operation Icefish
in 2014 The Sam Simon and The Bob Barker were deployed to Antarctica to hunt down and arrest a fleet of Spanish fishing boats that are wanted by Interpol and known as The Bandit 6. the leader of the Bandit 6 Thunder dropped gillnets in the water and fled. 5 days later The Sam Simon recovered the gillnets and left Antarctica to trail the Thunder. halfway through the campaign Sam Simon spotted three of the Bandit 6 notably the Kunlun, the Yongding, and the Songhua fishing off their bow and chased them into the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic where they were arrested by the New Zealand, Australian, South African and Thailand Navies.

Thunder Manhunt
Sam Simon took part in the Thunder Manhunt which was a 110 chase around the world which resulted in Thunder sinking on April 6, 2015.

Operation Sleppid Grindini
In 2015 Sam Simon was deployed to The Faroe Islands to stop the hunting of pilot whales in an event called a Grind Hunt five members of the small boat team and two members of the land team were arrested by Faroe Police and the Danish Navy for interfering with a Grind and are scheduled to be deported.

Drydock
The Sam Simon went into drydock in Germany in December of 2015. All damage caused during Operation Sleppid Grindini, Operation Icefish, and Operation Relentless were replaced and the ships camouflage  repainted. Also new boats were bought by Sea Shepherd to replace the ones that got stolen by Denmark during the grind. With repairs complete Sam Simon was handed over to Sea Shepherd United States and deployed to the Gulf of Mexico for Operation Toxic Gulf and Operation Milagro 3.

Operation Toxic Gulf 2015
In 2010 the oil rig Deepwater Horizon sank. The goal of Operation Toxic Gulf is to alert the public to the dangers caused by an oil spill. For the past five years since the Deepwater Horizon sank Sea Shepherd has deployed its vessels to the Gulf of Mexico and the Sea of Cortez to collect samples of the oil and monitor the ecosystem in the Gulf which is in decline since 2015. With the campaign complete the Sam Simon transited the Panama Canal headed towards the Sea of Cortez where it met up with the Martin Sheen and the MY Farley Mowat.

Operation Milagro 3
In 2016 Sam Simon, Martin Sheen, and Farley Mowat departed for the Sea of Cortez off the coast of Mexico to look for illegal driftnets and the boats placing the nets in the water. Sam Simon, Martin Sheen, and Farley Mowat have found close to 400 marine life trapped in the nets and even a couple dead whales and sharks. With this campaign wrapping up the Sam Simon is on its way to Italy for Operation Jairo Med where it will assist ICCAT and sister ship Brigitte Bardot to look for driftnets and arrest tuna poachers.

Operation Sola Stella 2017
After the successful completion of Operation Jairo Med the Sam Simon met up with the Bob Barker in Gabon to hunt down poachers who are fishing in the waters of Gabon and Liberia illegally for shark. Early in the campaign the Bob Barker and the Sam Simon spotted seven vessels registered to China. All six vessels were arrested along with a factory ship and detained. These vessels were using driftnets and transporting shark both of which is illegal according to the United Nations Charter of Nature. Sam Simon also arrested legal vessels but two of them were fishing with an expired license and one was fishing out of season. In the year long campaign The Sam Simon has arrested 13 vessels most of them were IUU poachers with connections to The Bandit 6. Near the end of the campaign The Sam Simon arrested the Labiko 2 which was blacklisted by CCAMLR for using illegal fishing gear and shark poaching and the Hei Lung which is an IUU vessel with ties to the Bandit 6 particularly to the Viking, Thunder, and the Perlon three notorious toothfish poachers who have been sunk and detained for their crimes. With the campaign wrapping up The Sam Simon met up with the Bob Barker and preformed a change of command ceremony before setting course to Italy. The Sam Simon is headed in for an overhaul before next year's campaign.

Operation Siso
After a year in drydock Sam Simon is now in the Aeolian Islands hunting for poachers who set illegal traps known as FADs which are Fishing Aggregating Devices which comprise of plastic jugs and fishing line covered with palm leaves to camouflage the traps. To date Sea Shepherd has found and destroyed 68 FADs and seized 130 kilometers of illegal fishing line.

Operation Sola Stella 2018
In November 2018 and in February 2019 after the successful completion of Operation Siso Sam Simon is back in Africa for Operation Sola Stella 2018. The Bob Barker and the Sam Simon have returned to Liberia to continue their fight against poachers. To date Sea Shepherd has arrested 15 vessels two of which were IUU. In November hours after the start of the campaign Sam Simon found the notorious shark poacher Bonheur and arrested them. This vessel was operating out of Côte d'Ivoire but did not have a license to fish in Liberian waters and by the state of the vessel it was IUU and when it was bordered all the documentation was forged. The Bonheur was hauling sharks which is illegal and were transporting fins and shark oil. Sam Simon escorted the vessel to Liberia where it was seized and the catch confiscated and destroyed. In April the Bob Barker arrested the Solvent. This vessel has a history of IUU fishing and was arrested before by the Liberian Coast Guard in 2012 for the same crimes. The Solvent had forged papers, a counterfeit license they stole from a detained vessel, a forged registration number, and a forged flag to Senegal. Senegal does not allow poaching or registration of IUU vessels and the flag was struck. The vessel was detained and its catch of tuna and shark were seized bringing the total number of detained vessels to 15. The Sam Simon is now headed to France to stop dolphin poaching in its waters.

Operation Dolphin Bycatch
In 2019 the Sam Simon was deployed to France to stop the killing of dolphins by industrial trawlers. The Sam Simon made 6 arrest and the campaign has gained international attention. Sea Shepherd will continue to patrol France's waters until the French government bans fishing in the Bay of Bisclay.

Operation Sola Stella 2021
In 2021 after standing down fallowing COVID 19 The Sam Simon is back and has traded places with the Bob Barker which has gone in for an overhaul. The goal this time is to police the waters of Liberia and to arrest any poachers they find. On July 17, 2021 The Sam Simon was called to do a rescue. The Monrovia flagged container ship Niko Ivanka ran aground and split in half after taking on water. The Sam Simon pulled 12 survivors out the water the other 17 went down with the ship and were never found. To date Sea Shepherd has not made any arrest this year and the poachers have gotten the message that they are not welcome in Africa and the Sam Simon will increase patrols and look for any vessels that cross into Liberian waters.

Drydock
The Sam Simon is now drydocked in Lisbon Portugal and has traded places with the Bob Barker who will head to Africa while the Sam Simon heads to France for campaigns in the Mediterranean.

Name Change
In 2022 The Sam Simon went through a name change and was renamed the Age of Union. The vessel is still drydocked in Portugal with the Bob Barker and will depart for Operation Dolphin Bycatch II in February.