Greenpeace activists have marked the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill by staging another protest on a Russian Arctic oil rig.
Campaigners, including one dressed as a polar bear, tried to get on board the West Alpha rig currently being refitted in Norway.
Police intervened to stop the protest on the ExxonMobil rig, which will be used with partner Rosneft to drill the Kara Sea for oil later this year.
Greenpeace said five activists from its group of 14 got on board the rig and unfurled a banner saying ‘No Exxon Valdez in Russian Arctic”.
“We are here today, on the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster, to protest against ExxonMobil´s plans of drilling in the Arctic,” said activist Ethan Gilbert.
“I was a young child living in Alaska when the Exxon Valdez disaster happened and the effects there are still being felt on the people and the environment even today.
“We are here on behalf of over 5 million people who have joined the movement to protect the Arctic from oil drilling.”
Last year 30 Greenpeace activists were arrested and held by Russia after attempting to board Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya rig in the Barents Sea in protest at Arctic drilling.
The protest comes on the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster, which saw around 11million gallons of oil spill into the Prince William Sound off Alaska when the Valdez hit a reef.
It is regarded as one of the most devastating man-made environmental disasters of all time, with more than 1300 miles of coastline covered in oil.