Net cutters, or trawlwire cutters, were secret weaponsSæmundsson, Sveinn (1984) ''Guðmundur skipherra Kjærnested'', Örn og Örlygur. eykjavík p. 187-189. employed by the

Icelandic Coast Guard The Icelandic Coast Guard (, or simply ) is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, and law enforcement in the seas surrounding Iceland. The Coast Guard maintains the Iceland ...

during the latter two

Cod War The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...

s to cut the trawling wires of foreign

fishing trawlers A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

working within the then newly claimed Exclusive Fisheries zones. They were invented by Commander Pétur Sigurðsson, Director of the Coast Guard, with assistance from Friðrik Teitsson from the Icelandic lighthouse institution and Tómas Sigurðsson, who were both ironmongers. The invention was known as the trawlwire cutter, and was tested in 1958—but not used until 5 September 1972, after every Icelandic ship had been equipped with it.

The first net cutting

On September 5, 1972, at 10:25 ICGV ''Ægir'', under Cdr. Guðmundur Kjærnested's command, encountered an unmarked trawler fishing northeast of Hornbanki. The master of this black-hulled trawler refused to divulge the trawler's name and number, and, after being warned to follow the Coast Guard's orders, played ''

Rule, Britannia! "Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the 1740 poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in the same year. It is most strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but is also used by the ...

'' over the radio. At 10:40 the net cutter was deployed into the water for the first time and ''Ægir'' sailed along the trawler's port side. The fishermen tossed a thick nylon rope into the water as the

patrol ship A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

closed in, attempting to disable its propeller. After passing the trawler, ''Ægir'' veered to the trawler's starboard side. The net cutter, behind the patrol vessel, sliced one of the trawling wires. As ICGV ''Ægir'' came about to circle the unidentified trawler, its angry crew threw

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

as well as

garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

and a large

fire axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many ...

at the Coast Guard vessel. A considerable amount of swearing and shouting came through the radio, which resulted in the trawler being identified as ''Peter Scott'' (H103).

Other users

Net cutters have not only been used by the Icelandic Coast Guard. The

Norwegian Coast Guard The Norwegian Coast Guard ( no, Kystvakten) is a maritime military force which is part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The coast guard's responsibility are for fisheries management, fisheries inspection, customs enforcement, border control, law e ...

has had the net cutters in its inventory for a long time and has successfully used them against Icelandic trawlers near

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

. However, during the first Norwegian usage of the net cutters they were employed on a small inflatable boat and were not as effective as on a full size patrol ship, resulting in one set of net cutters being "captured" by the Icelandic trawler. Shortly afterwards Icelandic coast guard officials made comments about the net cutters being "Used in a wrong manner",. The Norwegian Coast Guard heeded this and as a result did not employ inflatable boats with net cutters. The Norwegian net cutters had also been slightly modified, and some speculations arose in Icelandic media as to the legality of other users of net cutters. The Brazilian Navy used some of their own designed net cutters during

Lobster War The Lobster War (also known as the Lobster Operation; pt, Guerra da Lagosta; french: Conflit de la langouste) was a dispute over spiny lobsters that occurred from 1961 to 1963 between Brazil and France. The Brazilian government refused to allow ...

in 1961–63, against French fishing ships off Brazilian waters. List of known users: * * *{{BRA

The first net cutting

Other users

See also