Greenpeace International has made headlines in recent weeks in a daring escapade to stop Arctic oil drilling by attempting to board an oil rig off the Russian coast. On September 18th two members of Greenpeace from the ship Arctic Sunrise unsuccessfully tried to climb aboard the rig, which is operated by state-owned Gazprom. The crew of the oil platform fended the activists off with fire hoses while Russian security forces in inflatables attempted to stop them.
The next day the Arctic Sunrise was boarded by more security forces who detained all 30 activists on the ship. According to Greenpeace this boarding occurred when the Arctic Sunrise was outside of the 28 mile (44 km) contiguous zone within which a nation is allowed to enforce its laws, making the boarding illegal. Russia, however, claims that the Arctic Sunrise violated a 500 m security zone around the Gazprom oil rig, meaning that it was threatening Russian sovereignty and thus they had a right to board the ship. Greenpeace denies the allegations, saying that they stayed outside of not only the security zone but also the 3 nautical mile (5.6 km) exclusion which Russia “illegally” set up shortly before the protest.
The Russian authorities towed Arctic Sunrise to the northern port of Murmansk while the crew remained on board under armed guard. Once in Murmansk the activists were charged with piracy, a crime which faces up to 15 years in prison under Russian law. Greenpeace is adamant that the actions of the Arctic Sunrise do not constitute piracy, on the grounds that they were engaged in “peaceful protest”, not violence and threats to seize property.
Russian President Vladimir Putin freely admits that the protesters are “obviously not pirates” and Russian authorities have indicated that they will reduce the current charges of piracy to a less serious offence if their investigation determines that the charges are unreasonable. They maintain, however, that Greenpeace’s actions were a serious threat to the safety of the oil worker and created “the risk of an environmental catastrophe in the Arctic.”
Kumi Naidoo, the Greenpeace International executive director, commended the “brave activists” for “[standing] in defiance of those who wish to exploit this unfolding [climate] crisis to drill for more oil.” And while Arctic drilling is only possible due to the continuing trend of lessening sea ice, this does not address why taking advantage of the situation should be denied; if the Arctic oil reserves remain untapped demand will simply cause other—potentially less efficient—reserves to be exploited.
In any case Russia is preparing to take economic advantage of the melting Arctic sea ice while keeping balance with environmental considerations. Aside from substantial oil reserves, the Arctic Ocean also boasts the fastest sea route from most of Russia to Europe and other markets and could be a strategic military position.
Greenpeace has brought significant global attention to the Arctic and the human presence there. It is clear that, for good or for ill, this presence is going to continue to increase as lower ice levels open the Arctic Ocean’s resources and transportation opportunities.
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