legal claim, Sea Shepherd renamed it the MV Gojira and later the MV Brigitte Bardot On December 29, 2011 the vessel was damaged by a rogue wave whilst pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet during Operation Divine Wind off the western coast of Australia. The main hull was cracked and the port side pontoon needed to be held together by straps. In response to this incident and new tactics employed by the Japanese whaling fleet, Paul Watson has stated that he intends to procure more vessels to prevent themselves being outnumbered and shorthanded in future engagements. The ship was later sold in 2020. The 1200-tonne Bob Barker, was named after famous television game-show host and animal activist Bob Barker, who made the purchase of the retired Norwegian whaling vessel possible with a donation of US$5 million. This ship and the Irwin were both given new dazzle paint jobs in 2011. They were easy to tell apart since as the Irwin has a 77 painted on its bow while the Bob Barker had a shark's mouth design on its bow. In November of 2022 Sea Shepherd announced that The Bob Barker would be retired and scrapped due to its thinning hull stating in a post, "The thinning hull and the ageing machinery, means that the vessel can no longer be operated safely. Therefore, Sea Shepherd Global has a responsibility to the safety of life at sea, and the marine environment, to retire the vessel permanently." Current , the conservation society operates eleven ships, the , M/Y Conrad, , the , the , a new , the , the , the , the , and the . Because of what happened with the Brigitte Bardot Sea Shepherd has transitioned away from yachts and trimarans for fast patrol boats, cutters, and catamarans to modernize its fleet. Sea Shepherd acquired the long MY Sam Simon in June 2012, the vessel being named after the co-creator of The Simpsons who made a sizable donation to finance the vessel's purchase. Sam Simon was formerly operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency at the Maizuru Marine Laboratory under the name Seifu Maru. In January 2015, Sea Shepherd USA purchased two recently decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard patrol vessels. They are considerably faster than the other ships, with a top speed of 30 knots. These two ships are both Island-class patrol boats and are named MY John Paul DeJoria, (formerly named