The Yushin Maru No. 3 is a harpoon vessel and the youngest ship in the ICR whaling fleet. It was built in 2007 of identical design to its sister ships, the Yushin Maru and Yushin Maru No. 2. Yushin Maru No. 3 is responsible for all of the collisions that have occurred between the vessel and the Sea Shepherd Fleet.
During Operation Musashi Yushin Maru No. 3 killed a whale in front of Sea Shepherd and attempted to transfer it to Nisshin Maru resulting in a head-on collision with the Steve Irwin which damaged both vessels.
During Operation Waltzing Matilda Yushin Maru No. 3, Yushin Maru, Yushin Maru No. 2, and Shonan Maru No. 2 formed an illegal shark ring and then did circles around the Sea Shepherd Fleet. Yushin Maru No. 3 then got into a head-on collision with the Bob Barker and caused damage to the hull. Every single campaign Operation Waltzing Matilda to Operation Relentless ended with the Harpoon Boats towing steel tow cables behind the vessels each time ending with a head-on collision between the Bob Barker, the Yushin Maru No. 3, the Harpoon Boats, the Sun Laurel, and Nisshin Maru herself. Each of these collisions are the fault of Yushin Maru No. 3 and each side blamed the other for the collision.