Tag: Greenpeace

Protesting its involvement in oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Seven Greenpeace members have boarded an oil drilling ship at Port Taranaki to protest its involvement in oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.The protesters boarded the Noble Discoverer at 7am and climbed to the drilling tower to stop it sailing.The ship has been contracted by Shell Oil to drill three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Peninsula off the coast of Alaska.Police say after meeting with the ship's owner and the port they have agreed to leave the protesters where they are on Friday night.Police say even though they have the skills and equipment to remove the protesters, they are not yet prepared to jeopardise anyone's safety by using force, and will monitor the situation.Greenpeace says the protesters, which include actress Lucy Lawless, are well equipped with sleeping bags and food and will stay on board for as long as they can.Earlier, police said one person had been arrested.Shell Oil says actions such as this jeopardise the safety of everyone involved, and while it respects the right of the protesters to express their point of view, the priority should be safety.The company says it has taken steps to pursue ...

The captain's perspective

International Salvage Union to start a campaign alerting the IMO, governments and Greenpeace The International Salvage Union's (ISU) is to start a campaign aimed at alerting the IMO, governments and Greenpeace, among others about future salvage issues.New ISU president Andreas Tsavliris also called for higher awards to compensate salvage companies investing in new equipment, crew etc. "We want to raise our profile with stakeholders," he said.In addition, the ISU is to hold meetings next year with IUMI and P&I Clubs on the question of environmental salvage. Tsavliris said that the ISU wanted changes made to the Salvage Convention.One of the major concerns among salvors is the possible criminalisation when dealing with a particular incident in an area where salvors can become criminalised through no fault of their own in cases where environmental pollution occurs.Source: Tanker Operator

Rainbow Warrior III Greenpeace, the environmental campaign group, launched a new ship that it hopes will play a big role in its future campaigns.The Rainbow Warrior III carries the name of another vessel that was bombed and sunk by the French secret service in 1985 after it attempted to disrupt France's nuclear-testing in the South Pacific.Built to rigorous specifications for safety and environmental friendliness, the new vessel is almost 60m long, can hit 14 knots using sailpower, makes its own water, and can stay at sea for months.

One of the world's most environmentally friendly ships One of the world's most environmentally friendly ships arrived in London. Sailing up the Thames, Rainbow Warrior III has moored at West India Dock after her maiden voyage from Amsterdam.The 838-tonne, 60-metre ship with a sail capacity of over 1,200 sq meters, is the most technically advanced boat in its class and is the most environmentally efficient ship for her size. Hanna Gersmann went to meet some of the crew

WWF, Greenpeace and the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition join forces Conservationists called Tuesday for the world's biggest marine protection zone to be declared around Antarctica, heralding the possibility of a global fight over its pristine waters.As fishing stocks around the world become increasingly depleted, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance is urging the international convention tasked with managing the southern seas to establish a vast no-take network."The problem at the moment is that as fisheries resources around the world come under more and more pressure, there are going to be more distant water-fishing nations who want to go to the oceans around Antarctica to extract protein," the alliance's Steve Campbell told AFP on Tuesday."And they are going to do it either legally or illegally."While the land continent has been under protection since 1991, Campbell said there is no such rule in place for the pristine waters around it, which are teeming with marine life -- much of which is seen nowhere else on the planet.The 25-nation Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is set to decide on a network of marine reserves by 2012.Campbell said the alliance was calling for the creation of a reserve network "on a ...

They held a legal protest outside Port Taranak

Greenpeace calls for halt to governments deep sea oil program Yesterday morning Greenpeace activists held a legal protest outside Port Taranaki against a ship that is due to depart imminently to start exploring for deep sea oil - the new frontier of oil development off New Zealand's shores.There was a heavy police presence at the port overnight and this morning - to protect the controversial ship, Polarcus Alima, which arrived in Taranaki this morning. It is due to leave shortly to start exploring for oil off Raglan at depths of up to 1600 metres, on behalf of US oil giant Anadarko.If the ship's survey is successful then the drilling of wildcat oil wells off Raglan could begin as early as next year. Anadarko were part owners of the 1500 metre deep well the Deepwater Horizon was drawing oil from, which leaked 780 million litres of oil into the Gulf of Mexico last year over a three month period. A major reason it took so long to control the leak was the extreme depths the oil companies were operating in.The ship will later go on to prospect in deep water areas off Stewart Island, in a permit area due to be ...

More than 225 tons of hazardous chemicals into the ocean Yet another Cairn well off Greenland - the sixth so far - has come up dry. The Delta-1 well will be plugged and abandoned and Cairn now has to pin its hopes for this year's drilling season on two remaining wells.Cairn's share prices tumbled, again; the company is now worth 37 per cent less than it was six months ago. Not only is it losing value fast, Cairn is also spending millions - around US$600m - in its failing quest to find oil off Greenland.Unfortunately, money isn't the only thing Cairn is flushing away.The company has also pumped more than 225 tons of hazardous chemicals into the ocean around Greenland this year - that's more red-listed chemicals than the entire oil operations of Norway and Denmark combined.These chemicals are described by the OSPAR convention as giving "reason for suspicion because of several polluting effects on the environment".The environment, in this case, is one of the most pristine, fragile and vulnerable in the world - home to wildlife that includes almost all of the world's Narwhal population as well as blue whales, sea bird colonies and polar bears.Cairn is risking all ...

Greenpeace activists in Brazil dress up as whales to protest Greenpeace activists in Brazil dress up as whales to protest against the French oil company, Perenco. The demonstrators are calling on Perenco to support a moratorium on drilling near the South Atlantic's largest coral reef.Greenpeace activists held a protest outside the Brazilian unit of the French oil company Perenco, in Rio de Janeiro.The Abrolhos Bank reef in Brazil's northeast has been chosen by nearly ten thousand whales as a breeding ground.Greenpeace says that the drilling units in the region will weigh down on the breeding of these humpback whales, a species that were driven close to extinction and are now making a comeback. It is also the breeding season for them right now.The demonstrators dressed as whales and sprayed black paint on the costumes to illustrate the whales' situation, calling for an end to the oil drilling.Currently, Perenco and nine other oil companies such as Petrobas, Shell, and Repsol, are licensed to explore for oil in the Abrolhos region.Greenpeace has sent a letter with 12 thousand signatures to all oil firms inthe Abrolhos region, demanding that they back a moratorium on the oil drilling.The activists said Perenco is closest to ...