Video: 20,000 tonne coal shipment stopped from reaching Kingsnorth

Posted by jossc — 22 June 2009 at 4:22pm - Comments

Last night Greenpeace volunteers boarded E.ON's moving bulk freighter Sir Charles Parsons, carrying thousands of tonnes of coals to restock the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station.

They intercepted the freighter using rigid inflatable speedboats just after midnight as the ship sped up the River Medway towards Kingsnorth, then attached climbing ladders to the vessel and scaled the 15 metre hull. Three teams comprising nine people succeeded in boarding the ship. They then scaled the ship's huge funnel and the towering foremast to stop the ship from unloading.

The ship is now docked at the Kingsnorth quayside, but no coal has yet been unloaded. The intention is to delay the offloading of the coal cargo for as long as possible. Police are on the scene and have already made six arrests, but we still have four volunteers aboard with enough food and water to stay for several days, if necessary.

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About Joss

Bass player and backing vox in the four piece beat combo that is the UK Greenpeace Web Experience. In my 6 years here I've worked on almost every campaign and been fascinated by them all to varying degrees. Just now I'm working on Peace and Oceans - which means getting rid of our Trident nuclear weapons system and creating large marine reserves so that marine life can get some protection from overfishing.

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