Norwegian police on May 29 removed Greenpeace activists from a drilling rig they boarded on May 27 in a protest against oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters.
The platform, operated by Norway’s Statoil, was on its way to drill in the northern part of the Barents Sea.
Juha Aromaa, a spokesman for the global environmental group, said 15 activists from eight countries boarded the Transocean Spitsbergen, a rig operated by Norwegian energy company Statoil, about 175km off the Bear Island nature reserve – known for its rich bird colonies and animal life – without encountering any resistance from the onboard crew.
Of the 15 activists that boarded the rig, five volunteered to be taken back to shore, three returned to a nearby Greenpeace ship and seven were eventually removed by police.
Greenpeace’s decision to board the rig came hot on the heels of Norway’s decision on May 26 to allow Statoil to drill in the northern part of the Barents Sea.
Norway’s climate and environment ministry reversed the Environment Agency’s decision to review drilling permits in the area after Greenpeace complained that a spill in the Arctic could have disastrous environmental consequences.
Norwegian police did not immediately intervene because the rig had not started drilling and was therefore under the jurisdiction of the flag state, the Marshall Islands.
Protestors were planning to stay on board the rig for as long as they could and they were prepared. Erlend Tellnes, a Norwegian protester who boarded the rig, said the activists had brought with them enough supplies for “a long time”.
“We have a lot of food and we are prepared to stay here as long as we can,” he said by telephone soon after boarding the rig. He also said there was a “fairly good relationship” between the activists and the workers on the rig.
In a statement, Statoil said its safety measures in the “very unlikely” event of an oil spill were robust, and described the Greenpeace action as irresponsible and illegal.
Also on May 27, Greenpeace said 30 activists in the Dutch port of Ijmuiden boarded a rig contracted by Russia’s Gazprom to drill in the Pechora Sea. But they were removed after five hours.
The Arctic is believed to hold an estimated 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its untapped gas. Those resources are expected to become easier to access as climate change melts the frozen region.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/norway-removes-greenpeace-activists-drilling-rig-arctic