An oil firm has been granted a court order preventing environmental protesters from blocking the progress of a drilling ship in the North Sea.
But Greenpeace activists obstructing the Chevron vessel say they will not stop until they see the legal document for themselves.
The Stena Carron was halted about 11 miles from her proposed drilling location at the Lagavulin field, north of Shetland, after swimmers wearing drysuits and lifejackets were dropped into the sea in front of the vessel.
The campaigners took to the water after a Court of Session interdict ended a four-day occupation on a pod attached to the boat’s anchor chain at the end of last week.
A second interdict that prohibits Greenpeace from taking any further action to block the vessel’s path was granted by the same court yesterday.
A Greenpeace spokesman said last night: “Our lawyers haven’t seen it yet and it hasn’t been served to us.
“The swimmers came out of the water because of the weather at about 4pm.”
He added that the protest group’s boat Esperanza was expected to continue to block the Stena Carron’s path overnight.
The group launched its protest last Tuesday to raise concerns about deepwater drilling following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Speaking on the phone from the Esperanza, one of the swimmers, Ben Stewart, 36, from London, said the group are “determined to keep going”.
He said: “We need to go beyond oil, we have to invest in clean energy otherwise there will be BP-style disasters hitting the coastlines of Europe and the fight to beat climate change will be lost.”
Last night, a Chevron spokesman called the actions of the protesters “reckless”.
He said: “The interdict prohibits Greenpeace and its activists from impeding the progress of the Stena Carron or taking any steps to block its path in any way or to otherwise interfere with Chevron’s lawful operations in its licensed blocks in the Shetland region.
“We are now seeking to serve the interdict on Greenpeace at their headquarters in London and on those on board the Esperanza.”