PERU'S NAVY SEIZES 5 ONASSIS WHALERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090085-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 17, 1999
• Sequence Number: 85
• Publication Date: November 17, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

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Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149R00060
!th's, Navy Seizes
S Onassis Whalers)
vian air a 1l l naval forces have
eiq zed five 'ships of a whaling
Beet operated by Aristotle Onas-
sis, Greek-born shipowner. The
Government announced today the
vessels had hunted whales inside
the 200-mile offshore zone
claimed by Peru.
'[In Panama,' dispatches were {
received from the Onassis fleet,
w$ich is under Panamanian
registry, saying the mother
ship had been attacked by air
880 miles of Peru. Two other
vesselp were machine-gunned
800 miles oft. the coast and or-
dered to a Peruvian port, the --=?:.
dispatche? added.] operated by Aristotle Onassi
Offficials. said the Peruvian said two of the catcher vessels
Navy and air arm had been mo- had been machine-gunned 300
biliaed against the Onassis fleet miles off Peru's coast and or-
i?z "defense of national sover- dered to a Peruvian port. The
ship believed
bignty and of the country's ma- have suffered light Conqueror was damage. to
e.
-
rine wealth." Earlier, official Panamanian
The announcement said two'inspeftors aboard the mother
lured four ships and a fifth had
been forced, by.. a Peruvian plane
to proceed to the oil port of
Talara.
The destroyers were said to
have caught the whalers Olym-
pic Victor and. Olympic Light-
ning by surprise abdut 180 miles
off' Aguja Point, Two other
whalers were captured by the
same destroyers forty miles far-
ther south, off Talara, the Gov-
ernprent reported.
The whaling crews `surrend-
ered without resistancQQ~ the an-
nouncement added.._Ty were
transferred to the destroyers and
replaced by Peruvian crews who
sailed the ships to Pita, northern
port. i' .' ,
Another destroyer ` of d three
frigates left Callao M' today for
ruvian plane spout 380 miles off
Peru. They said-,the ship had not
been struck, but the plane was
still in the vicinity.
The dispatch from the mother
ship noted that its position had
been 180 miles outside the new
200-mile territorial limit claimed
by Peru. Panama informed Peru
in September she could not ac-
cept this limit.
The fleet, left Panama in Au-
gust, intending to hunt sperm I
whales off Peru until the weather
became warm enough to go to
the Arctic for blue whales.
Help from Ecuador Sought
SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 16
(Reuters)-Chile's' Ambassador
at Lima reported `to the Foreign
Minister today that the Peruvian
Government had asked Ecuador
to intercept the rest of the whal-
ing fleet from Panama.
mopping-up operatidtts' ` against
the "pirate fleet,",.the_'announce-
ment said.
Authoritative sourctes said the
Peruvian units were 'under or-
ders - to fire' on and sink any
.whaler -that showed armed re-
sistance. They said at least one
of the Onassis ships carried
guns. r,
The seardfi ,will be carried' on
even outside Peruvian territorial
limits and will cease only when
the fleeing ships enter foreign
territorial waters, officials said.
Limit Rejected by Panama.
Speciai to The New York'Times.
PANAMA, Nov. 16-Sources
close to the Government reported
today that dispatches from the
Panamanian-flag whaling fleet
Mr. Onassis said here yester-
day that he understood that Pan-
ama and Peru had reached on
agreement oh his South Pacific
whaling activities.
'He has operated a fleet of
streamlined whalers in southern
waters for several years. But
Chile, Ecuador and Peru met last
month and decided to assert their
claims to a 200-mile offshore
limit.
Seventeen of the Onassis fleet
of nineteen vessels were reported
to have le#l anama for opera-
tions.
Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090085-7