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Southern Ocean - 10.00hrs (04.00hrs GMT): Greenpeace activists today used inflatable boats to interfere with a Japanese whaling fleet illegally hunting for Minke whales inside the internationally recognised whale sanctuary that surrounds Antarctica.

The inflatable boats were launched from the Greenpeace vessel MV Arctic Sunrise at 08.00 local time (02.00GMT) and drove two hours across icy Antarctic waters to block the Japanese factory ship Nisshin-maru from loading a harpooned whale from a catcher ship.

The Southern Ocean around Antarctica was formally declared a whale sanctuary in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), making the region off limits to commercial whaling. However despite repeated requests from the IWC to cancel its whaling program Japan began hunting in the Sanctuary last month, intending to kill 440 Minke whales (up from 389 last year) as part of a so-called “scientific research” program.

By ignoring the IWC's requests to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary Japan is in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which requires all countries to cooperate with the IWC in the conservation of whales.

"Japan has placed itself outside of the law,” said John Bowler, Greenpeace campaigner on board the vessel MV Arctic Sunrise. “International maritime law clearly requires that Japan cooperate with the relevant international authorities where whaling is involved."

Greenpeace has called on national governments to demand that the Japanese government cancel its illegal Antarctic whaling program. To date British, US, Australian and New Zealand governments have pressed Japan to abandon the whaling program.

"While Greenpeace does all it can at sea to stop this illegal activity, the governments of the world must take urgent action to stop Japan from trampling international laws designed to protect marine life,” Bowler said.

The activists inside the inflatable are Frank Kamp (Netherlands), Daniel Rizzotti (Argentina), Yasuhiro Ito, (Japan).