The damaged powerboat Ady Gil, which belongs to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, floats near the Japanese ship Shonan Maru No. 2 after a collision between the two vessels in the Southern Ocean January 6, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo]

A protest ship has been holed in a collision with Japanese whalers on the high seas, Australian Associated Press reports Wednesday.

Six crew members aboard the anti-whaling stealth ship the Ady Gill were rescued, one with broken ribs, after it and the Japanese whalers' ship the Shonan Maru 2 collided in remote Antarctic waters.

The dangerous escalation in the whale wars has sparked calls for the Australian federal government to send a ship to Antarctica to police the situation.

Vessels have long been ramming each other and using stink bombs and water cannons in the annual battle over whether hundreds of whales should be hunted.

The crew of the Japanese ship Shonan Maru No. 2 spray water at the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's high-tech powerboat Ady Gil during a collision between the two vessels in the Southern Ocean January 6, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters]

The Ady Gill, a futuristic light-weight vessel engaged by the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd, had its bow sheared off in the incident and is taking on water.

The Sea Shepherd says the Ady Gill had stopped in the path of the Japanese vessel, but was trying to get out of the way when the Japanese went straight for it.