the Bob Barker (later joined by the Sam Simon) was still pursuing the Thunder. The chase covered over 10,000 nautical miles and lasted 110 days, the longest pursuit of an illegal fishing boat on record. On 6 April, the Thunder's captain radioed a distress call, claiming the vessel had collided with something. The Sea Shepard vessels moved to assist, and all 40 of the Thunder's crew were rescued. Three Sea Shepherd crew boarded the Thunder and reported that cabin doors on the vessel had been tied open. This combined with the lack of evidence for a collision and the fact that the Thunder's crew cheered as the ship sank led the Sea Shepherd crews to believe that the Thunder had been intentionally scuttled to hide evidence of illegal fishing. On 22 April 2015, the Perlon was spotted and boarded by Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Australian Defence Force officials. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority alerted other governments in the area about the Perlon, and when the ship arrived in Malaysia in May, it was detained. The crew of the Perlon were later fined $445,000 and ordered to forfeit the cargo, valued at approximately $1.3 million. On 19 May, Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the MV Bob Barker, was on sabbatical in Mindelo, Cape Verde, when he noticed a familiar-looking ship had arrived at the port. He took a photo of the ship and forwarded it to New Zealand authorities, who confirmed that the ship was the Songhua. The Songhua was joined the next day by the Yongding, and on 21 May both were boarded and detained by Cape Verde port authorities. In September 2015, the Kunlun escaped from Phuket. The Phuket authorities had allowed the Kunlun to refuel so that it could keep its cargo frozen. The Kunlun was next seen in Senegal in early February 2016, claiming to be registered in Indonesia. Senegalese authorities detained the ship. The Sea Shepherd flagship searched for the last of the Bandit 6, Viking. When the MV Steve Irwin located the ship, they alerted the Indonesian authorities. On 25 February 2016, the Indonesian Navy seized the Viking near Tanjung Berakit, Riau Islands province. On 14 March, the Viking'' was destroyed by Indonesian authorities. See also Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operations Thunder (ship) References Poachers