MY Steve Irwin
The MV Steve Irwin was the 59-metre (194 ft) flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and was used in their direct action campaigns against whaling and against illegal fisheries activities. The vessel was built in 1975 and formerly served as a Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency conservation enforcement patrol boat, the FPV Westra, for 28 years.
MY Steve Irwin moored in West India Docks, London, 2011 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Scotland | |
| Name | 1975–2006: FPV Westra |
| Owner | 1975–1999: Secretary of State for Scotland |
| Operator | 1975–2003: Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency |
| Ordered | 1974 |
| Builder | Hall, Russell & Company, Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Yard number | 962 |
| Christened | FPV Westra |
| In service | 1975–2003 |
| Out of service | 2003–2006 (laid up for disposal) |
| Homeport | Leith, Scotland |
| Netherlands | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Steve Irwin |
| Owner | 2006–2019: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |
| Operator | 2006–2019: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |
| Port of registry | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| In service | 2006 |
| Out of service | 2019 |
| Homeport | Hobart, Tasmania |
| Identification |
|
| Status | Retired, to be preserved |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Island class patrol vessel |
| Tonnage | 885 gt |
| Length | 59.43 m (195 ft) |
| Beam | 10.97 m (36 ft) |
| Draught | 4.26 m (14 ft) |
| Ice class | None |
| Propulsion | 2 x British Polar Engines 12-cylinder 2,100 bhp (1,600 kW), driving a variable-pitch propeller |
| Speed | 12.5–16.5 knots (23–31 km/h) |
| Capacity | 200 tons fuel |
| Crew | 43 |
| Aircraft carried | 1 MD Helicopters MD 500 can be embarked |
| Notes | |
Sea Shepherd had originally christened the vessel the MV Robert Hunter after Canadian Robert Hunter, co-founder of Greenpeace, but it was renamed in honor of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin, who had died just over a year earlier, on December 5, 2007. Irwin had considered joining the vessel on a voyage to Antarctica shortly before his death, and the renaming was endorsed by his widow Terri.
The ship and her crew, and their efforts for conservation, were the subject of the Animal Planet show Whale Wars.
The MV Steve Irwin is now moored at Thales Marine in the City of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and is now in the ownership of the not for profit Ship4Good.