This transition occurred near the end of 2012 when Sea Shepherd Conservation Society bought a former research ship owned by the Japanese government via a Delaware shell corporation called New Atlantis Ventures LLC. This corporation was listed on the documents as the owner of the ship while the involvement of Sea Shepherd was hidden, according to ABC News. After the purchase, a Japanese crew sailed the vessel to Australia and handed it over to Sea Shepherd. It was initially renamed New Atlantis, then publicly unveiled in Hobart, Tasmania, in December 2012 as the MY Sam Simon. It was renamed for Sam Simon, who co-created The Simpsons and had provided the money to buy the ship, according to his biography on the Television Academy's website.
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