Japan has rubbished claims by one of the two freed anti-whaling activists that crew attempted to push him overboard.
The Yushin Maru No. 2 handed over Australian Benjamin Potts, 28, and Briton Giles Lane, 35, to the Australian customs vessel the Oceanic Viking this morning and they have since returned to anti-whaling ship the Steve Irwin.

Mr Potts said he feared for his life while he was being held by the Japanese.

"Once we boarded, the Japanese crew came down and physically restrained us on the lower deck,'' the Australian activist said.

"A number of them grabbed us and they attempted to throw me overboard. They were unsuccessful because I held onto a guard rail. One bloke picked up my shoulders and the gunner picked up my legs.''

However, Gabriel Gomez, spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research that organises Japan's hunts, said it was "absolutely untrue that the Japanese crew assaulted the two, or tried to throw them overboard."

The AP news service reported him saying the two had been briefly tied up because the crew had no idea what their intentions were when they boarded them and their backpacks could have potentially contained explosives.

Gomez said when their backpacks were searched they had clothes, toothbrushes and a flask of rum - seeming to counter the activists' claims they planned to leave the vessel after delivering their letter.

Gomez also said whaling was expected to resume within days, and accused Sea Shepherd activists of launching an attack with bottles of acid on another harpoon boat, the Yushin Maru 3, four hours after the hand-over.

Mr Potts said both he and Mr Lane were denied access to most information about their plight.

"We were really kept in the dark until our release,'' Mr Potts said.

"We were denied any contact with our ship or with the Australian or British governments.

"The information we got we had to fight for and it came to us slowly and through someone who spoke minimal English.''

He said he finally learned he was to be returned to the Australian customs vessel about 8.30pm yesterday.

The pair had warned they would start a hunger strike if they were not told what was going to happen to them, he said.

Mr Lane, from southern England, said despite his experience he thought it had been worth it, because it had given worldwide exposure to the anti-whaling cause, and stopped the Japanese hunting for several days.

"We would do more of the same without a second thought,'' Mr Lane said.
"We did deliver our letter. They weren't overly happy to receive it, but it was passed up to the head of the fleet and no doubt the Japanese government as well.''

During the time were held by the Japanese it is understood they were fed rice and given green tea and water to drink.

The captain of the Steve Irwin, Paul Watson, said he and his crew will continue to harass the whalers.

"They haven't killed any whales for the last week."

Mr Watson said no deal had been done with the Japanese whalers.

"We made no deal at all," he said.

"When people are holding our crew hostage and making demands we're not going to acquiesce to that."

Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Japanese whaling programme, said the whaling fleet, which is on its annual hunt for nearly 1000 whales for a so-called research programme, would now resume operations.

"It was certainly quite handy for the Japanese government that the (Oceanic Viking) was there because it helped them resolve the situation with the two illegal intruders," Mr Inwood told Radio New Zealand this morning.

"It became very clear yesterday after 24 hours of receiving no communication from the Sea Shepherd organisation that they had no intention of removing the men from the Japanese vessel and therefore the Australian government was asked to intervene and take them aboard their Customs vessel," he said.

Sea Shepherd international director Jonny Vasic said the activists had peacefully boarded the harpoon ship to deliver a letter of protest.

"They got on and planned to get right back off," he said.

"Our intention is to stop the whaling in the Antarctic whale sanctuary where they are breaking international law ... we are enforcing conservation law.

"(The) mission accomplished so far is no Australian humpbacks are going to die this year because of international pressure and especially Australia standing up and saying enough's enough."

Mr Vasic said the whaling season ran until the end of March and the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society would continue fighting to stop whales being killed.

Mr Watson said he did not believe there would be any further attempts to board Japanese vessels by any crew of the Steve Irwin.

"I think we've already delivered the letter, I don't see that happening again," he said.

"We'll just continue to chase the whalers.

"As long as we're chasing them they're not going to kill the whales."

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said neither Sea Shepherd nor the Steve Irwin would be billed for the rescue of the two men.

"The Oceanic Viking was in the Great Southern Ocean intending to do its original mission which was to gain evidence of Japanese whaling in the course of this whaling season for potential use in the international court," he said.

" ... our ultimate objective is to get the Japanese to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean.

"Our objective in the last couple of days has been to ensure the safety and welfare and wellbeing of Benjamin Potts and the UK national."

Mr Smith said the Australian and Japanese governments had made arrangements to transfer the two men while ``agreeing to disagree'' about whaling.

"It's one thing about a strong relationship. If there hadn't been such a strong relationship we wouldn't have seen such a speedy agreement."

Mr Smith said he would continue to call for restraint on the part of everyone involved in the whaling issue and did not believe there would be a repeat of the ship boarding incident "in coming weeks".

He said a recent Federal Court decision ruling Japanese whaling in Australian waters illegal would be difficult to enforce.

But he said the strong view of the Australian community was that the federal government should continue to pursue all reasonable means of stopping the whaling.
AAP