OTTAWA (AFP) — A Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker and a ship steered by animal rights activists opposed to Canada's annual seal hunt collided in the Gulf of St. Lawrence overnight, officials said Monday.

A Fisheries and Oceans Department spokesman said the Coast Guard vessel Des Groseilliers twice "grazed" the Farley Mowat owned by the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

There was "no damage done" nor any injuries reported, he said.

Alex Cornelissen, captain of the Farley Mowat, said in a statement his vessel was "twice rammed" in the port stern after he ignored warnings not to approach sealers on the third day of Canada's annual hunt.

"They are ramming ships in dangerous ice conditions," Cornelissen said. "This is unbelievable. It's like the Coast Guard has declared war on seal defenders."

"The allegations are complete nonsense and totally false," Fisheries spokesman Phil Jenkins told AFP, insisting it was the Farley Mowat that approached the Coast Guard ship.

The annual harp seal hunt kicked off on Friday with a handful of sealing vessels setting out before dawn from the Magdalen islands to reach the seal herds, and with activists close behind.

Animal rights groups, including the Sea Shepherd clan, claim to document the "cruel" slaughter and "atrocities on the ice." But officials accused them of interfering in the hunt.

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