Age of Union in 2014 as Sam Simon
History
Japan
Name	Seifu Maru
Owner	Japan Meteorological Agency[1]
Operator	Maizuru Marine Observatory
Builder	Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co Ltd
Yard number	3035[2]
Laid down	6 April 1992[2]
Launched	11 August 1992[2]
Christened	1993
Completed	22 January 1993[1][2]
In service	1993–2010
Homeport	Maizuru, Kyoto
Identification	IMO number: 9053452[3]
Fate	Sold in 2010
Japan
Name	Kaiko Maru No. 8
Owner	Offshore Operation Co., Ltd
Acquired	2010
In service	2010–2012
Renamed	2010
Identification	Call sign: JIVB MMSI number: 572490210[3]
Fate	Sold in 2012
Tuvalu
Name	New Atlantis
Owner	New Atlantis Ventures LLC[2]
Port of registry	Funafuti
Acquired	September 2012
In service	September 2012 – December 2012
Identification	Call sign: T2FS4 MMSI number: 572490210[3]
Fate	Management assumed by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; transferred to Australian register
Australia
Name	Sam Simon
Namesake	Sam Simon
Owner	New Atlantis Ventures LLC[2]
Operator	Sea Shepherd Conservation Society[2]
Port of registry	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia[4]
In service	2012–2013
Identification	Call sign: VJN4108
Status	Re-Flagged to the Netherlands
Netherlands
Name	2013–2022: MY Sam Simon since 2022: MY Age of Union
Owner	New Atlantis Ventures LLC
Operator	Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Port of registry	Rotterdam, Netherlands
In service	2013–present
Identification	IMO: 9053452 MMSI number: 244810415[3]
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Research/Survey Vessel
Tonnage	484 GT
Length	55.5 m (182.1 ft) loa[2]
Beam	9.8 m (32.2 ft)[2]
Draught	3.50 m (11.48 ft)[2]
Depth	4.30 m (14.11 ft)[2]
Installed power	One 6-cylinder diesel by Akasaka Diesel Ltd, Japan. 1,300 kW (1,800 hp)[2]
Propulsion	Single shaft; controllable-pitch propeller
Speed	12.9 knots (23.9 km/h; 14.8 mph)[3] – 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity	200 tons fuel
Crew	43

MY Age of Union is a vessel of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society fleet, the ship was previously named after American television producer and writer Sam Simon, who donated the money to purchase the vessel. The ship's identity was kept secret, to be revealed when she met the Japanese whaling fleet in 2012, but was identified when her registration was discovered on the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's list of registered ships.^[4]

Age of Union is the former Japanese weather survey ship Kaiko Maru No 8. Sea Shepherd paid the Government of Japan AUD $2,000,000 for the vessel.^[5] She was renamed MV New Atlantis shortly before being moved to Brisbane, Queensland. She was subsequently re-registered under the Australian flag as a pleasure craft called Sam Simon.^[4]

Service

Age of Union was built by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co Ltd in Tokyo, Japan as Seifu Maru^[2] (清風丸, Seifū Maru – meaning cool breeze), a marine meteorological and oceanographic observation ship. The purpose of Seifu Maru and her sister ships was to conduct observations of the pollution affecting the marine environment in the waters around Japan and the western North Pacific, covering greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting substances, heavy metals, and oils. The Japan Meteorological Agency operated five ships: Chofu Maru (長風丸, 1987), Kofu Maru (高風丸, 1988), Seifu Maru (清風丸, 1993), Ryofu Maru (凌風丸, 1995) and Keifu Maru (啓風丸, 2000). Seifu Maru was operated by the Maizuru Marine Observatory and worked in the Sea of Japan. The Japanese ARGO Program (アルゴ計画) was completed and the un-needed vessel was sold to Offshore Operation Co. Ltd and was renamed Kaiko Maru No 8 in 2010.

MY Sam Simon in Hobart, Tasmania in December 2012

In September 2012, Kaiko Maru was purchased by New Atlantis Ventures LLC, based in Wilmington, Delaware USA (a shell corporation of Sea Shepherd), and renamed New Atlantis, registered under the flag of Tuvalu. In December 2012, New Atlantis was renamed Sam Simon. $500,000 of upgrades for increased speed and range were undertaken in Brisbane, where she was docked and supplies were taken on board for the voyage to the whale sanctuary.^[6] The vessel was publicly unveiled in Hobart, Tasmania in December 2012.^[7]

On February 20, 2013, the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru collided with Sam Simon, MY Steve Irwin and MY Bob Barker multiple times in a confrontation in the Southern Ocean, north of Australia's Casey Research Station in Antarctica.^[8]

The MY Sam Simon currently operates in Europe and West Africa. In Europe, the Sam Simon crew are filming the activities of trawler type vessels in an attempt to draw attention to dolphin bycatch (dolphins unintentionally caught in the nets of the trawlers). In West Africa, the Sam Simon crew are partnering with several Governments to stop illegal fishing happening within West African waters.

As from 24 May 2021, the MY Sam Simon has been sighted in the Port of Gibraltar for a technical call.

Sam Simon was renamed Age of Union in January 2022 after a $4.5 million donation by Dax Dasilva.^[9]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IMO 9053452.

• Sea state of the Sea of Japan – Maizuru Marine Observatory (Japanese)
• Sea Meteorological Observation Report – Maizuru Marine Observatory (Japanese)
• Images of the Sam Simon