Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Danes block Greenpeace vessel in Arctic

Alan Jones,Pa
Monday 23 August 2010 17:10 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Danish warship today confronted a Greenpeace ship which is on a mission to target "dangerous" deep sea oil drilling sites, the environmental group claimed.

The incident happened in the freezing seas off Greenland as the protest ship Esperanza approached one of the world's most controversial oil drilling projects operated by the British company Cairn Energy, said Greenpeace.

The Greenpeace ship left London 12 days ago vowing to challenge the oil industry at the site of a dangerous deepwater drilling project in the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but did not reveal its intended location until today when the ship arrived in the seas west of Disko Island in the Arctic.

The Danish government sent the Vaedderen, a Thetis-class warship, to protect two drilling sites being operated by Britain's Cairn Energy, said the environmental group tonight, adding that the Esperanza has been warned that the ship will be raided and the captain arrested if it breaches a security zone set up in the area.

Greenpeace campaigner Leila Deen, speaking from the Esperanza, said: "To see a huge drilling rig in this beautiful and fragile environment is deeply shocking. The tragic oil disasters in the Gulf and in China this year clearly illustrate the need to go beyond oil.

"Companies like Cairn need to leave the Arctic alone and start developing the clean tools that will actually help us get off fossil fuels for good.

"Climate change is already having an impact on millions of people around the world but oil companies are completely ignoring the new reality we face. That's why we're here to deliver a message to them in person - go home now."

More than 30 crew are on board the Esperanza, which was once a Russian firefighting vessel and is equipped with several months' supplies, boats and a helicopter.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in