Greenpeace’s bid to prevent first oil from Russia’s new Artic platform have been scampered.
Dutch police boarded the Rainbow Warrior as it tried to block the delivery of platform’s first oil to a port in Rotterdam.
The campaign group confirmed the ship was crewed by the same activists who were detained last year in relation to the Artic endeavor. The group oppose the new drilling frontier, saying it risks causing catastrophic damage to the fragile ecosystem.
Reporters on scene said the crew had draped banners saying “No Artic Oil” from the Russian vessel.
The activists were detained in single room aboard the Rainbow Warrior. The captain was arrested immediately after the ship docked.
“The Russian ship is very big, about 250 metres long, and there are safety concerns when you try and stop it mooring,” Rotterdam police spokesman Roland Ekkers said.
Arctic oil represents a dangerous new form of dependence on Russia’s state-owned energy giants at the very moment when we should be breaking free of their influence,” said Greenpeace executive director Kumi Naidoo in a statement.
The vessel is carrying 70,000 tonnes of oil from Gazprom’s Prirazlomanaya oil platform in the Arctic Pechora Sea