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The 'twiddling fingers' part of direct action

A dance troupe from Manokwari take a tour of the Esperanza's bridge

A dance troupe from Manokwari take a tour of the Esperanza's bridge in October 2008 © Greenpeace/Rante

Jamie wrote this - his thoughts and reflections on the ship tour so far - as he was waiting for something to happen in Indonesia last night. Eventually, something did.

Direct actions can be quite boring at times. The few moments of excitement are the ones which make the headlines and the photos, but anyone who has participated themselves will know there can be long, drawn-out stretches when not much is happening. Direct inaction, if you will.

I'm currently experiencing that now. As I write this, nestled in the campaign office on board the Esperanza, we're playing a waiting game. You've probably read about what the crew here has been up to in the Indonesian port of Dumai, painting and blockading palm oil tankers.

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Update from Indonesia: Greenpeace climber brought down

A policeman pushes a Greenpeace climber down from the anchor chain of the Gran Couva

A policeman pushes a Greenpeace climber down from the anchor chain of the Gran Couva © Greenpeace/Novis

An update from Indonesia: yesterday, the climber occupying the anchor chain of a ship carrying a cargo of palm oil was brought down, arrested and later released without charge.

Yesterday, we also received the intriguing photo above (later chosen by the BBC for its day in pictures). As it took us in the office a while to get our heads around what was happening, I thought I'd pass on Jamie's explanation:

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Forest crimes and climate crimes: Greenpeace ships take action

The hoses are turned on a climber, attached to the anchor chain of the Gran Couva. © Greenpeace/Novis

The Esperanza in Indonesia

The small (wet) figure above is a crew member of the Greenpeace ship Esperanza. Darkness has fallen on the port of Dumai (Indonesia) since this photograph was taken several hours ago, but our climber is still there, in the dark, occupying the anchor chain and preventing the tanker from setting off to the Netherlands with its 27,000 tonne cargo of palm oil. As Jamie wrote on the Forests for Climate blog, it takes only one person to stop a giant palm oil tanker.

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Farewell to the Rainbow Warriors

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates.


Sadly, all good things come to an end and, yesterday afternoon, the Rainbow Warrior hauled up her lines and left Canary Wharf, heading for mainland Europe to continue her campaign against coal.

As a thanks to the amazing crew - who've had maybe the busiest two weeks of their Greenpeace ship lives - we've put together a slideshow capturing the quieter moments inbetween the frenetic events, open days and direct actions. The photographs are all by Will Rose (onboard photographer and one of the Kingsnorth Six) and Kajsa Sjolander (Rainbow Warrior deckhand and garbologist, when she's not being a photo journalist).

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Day out on the Rainbow Warrior

Getting the Rainbow Warrior ready for visitors

The Rainbow Warrior in London. © Will Rose / Greenpeace

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email.  


I have never been on any Greenpeace ship. So when Greenpeace veterans would tell me stories of the Rainbow Warrior or of the Esperanza, all I could do was to listen in awe and imagine them in my head. But today was different, as I set out on my journey to see our ship, the Rainbow Warrior in action at South Quay in East London.

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Crew blog - life on the high seas (well, the Thames)

The Rainbow Warrior coming through the Thames Barrier

The Rainbow Warrior coming through London's Thames Barrier on Friday afternoon. © Will Rose / Greenpeace.

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email


Pete's blog

Pete - Rainbow Warrior crewPete is a volunteer deckhand on the Rainbow Warrior. He wrote this on Thursday, the day after the vigil.

Having been up since 3.40am the previous day, I slept through the night time antics with the projector and the injunction delivery.

Now we are at anchor just upriver from Tilbury. A quieter day of tidying ship and cleaning away equipment. Dark clouds are gathering and a sudden squall blows in. We are keeling over at an angle to the anchor chains. Icy sleet stings our hands and faces as we bring the inflatables alongside to secure them.

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An evening at Kingsnorth

Evening on the Rainbow Warrior

On deck of the Rainbow warrior, taken during the Warrior's UK tour. © Will Rose / Greenpeace.

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email


It's slightly surreal sitting here in the mess of the Rainbow Warrior, where life is carrying on in all its usual, cosy hustle and bustle. (The crew members are helping themselves to spaghetti and salad as I write, and a couple of people are using the first quiet moment of the day to have a shower.)

Just outside is the towering smokestack of Kingsnorth and, around the corner, there's a small, concrete island owned by E.on which six people - including two of the Kingsnorth Six - have occupied. They're planning to set up a projector and beam images of climate change impacts onto Kingsnorth's smokestack. (So far, they've been troubled by technical problems - I'll keep you posted.)

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Rainbow Warrior heading to the UK to Give Coal the Boot

Enviornmental icon to visit London, Kent and Essex
8 Oct 2008

The Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace's flagship, will be visiting the UK later this month.

The 55-metre vessel, one of the most famous ships in the world because of her environmental campaigns, will arrive in London on the 20 October as part of Greenpeace's ‘Give Coal the Boot' campaign.

She will then be visiting Kent, where the first coal power station for a generation is being planned at Kingsnorth, and welcoming onboard the heads of groups such as Oxfam, the Women's Institute and Tearfund.

These groups, whose combined membership numbers millions, will show their opposition to plans for coal power stations like the one proposed by Eon for Kingsnorth.

The Rainbow Warrior will then be welcoming visitors for a guided tour at Southend pier in Essex on Saturday the 25 and Sunday the 26 October. The tour is free, and will offer everyone a chance to learn more about the ship and about the campaign to ‘Give Coal the Boot'. (1)

Joss Garman of Greenpeace said: "There's a huge coalition building against planned coal plants, and they'll be joining the Rainbow Warrior to help give coal the boot.

"Faith groups, development groups, politicians of all shades, scientists and thousands of ordinary people are standing up and saying no to new coal."

Last month, ministers suffered a blow to their energy plans as six Greenpeace volunteers were acquitted of criminal damage by a Crown Court jury in a case that centred on the contribution made to climate change by burning coal.

The charges arose after the six attempted to shut down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent last year by scaling the chimney and painting the Prime Minister's name down the side. The defendants pleaded ‘not guilty' and relied in court on the defence of ‘lawful excuse' - claiming they shut the power station in order to defend property of a greater value from the global impact of climate change.

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255. 

NOTES:

(1) Please register online to join a guided tour here. As a working ship, the Rainbow Warrior has some steep steps and narrow passageways, so unfortunately pushchairs, wheelchairs and dogs will not be allowed on board. But, although those people with limited mobility may not be able to get a full tour, they can of course see the ship and talk to the crew.

For more information on the Rainbow Warrior, go to http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/ships/the-rainbow-warrior.