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Update: Rainbow Warrior ends peaceful protest at Pagbilao
Posted by jossc on 27 May 2008.
The Rainbow Warrior's protest at the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant in the Philippines has ended on a high note. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri sent a message of support to the crew saying, "I will file a resolution in the Senate seeking a halt in the construction of new coal fired power plants in the country."
The action ended on the eve of the G8 Environment Ministers Meeting in Japan, where the richest industrialised countries in the world gathered at the weekend to discuss solutions to climate change. Ending the use of coal needs to top the agenda.
"Quit coal" tour gets underway in Philippines
Posted by jossc on 23 May 2008.
The crew of the Rainbow Warrior kicked off a month long "Quit coal" tour around south-east Asia today when they blocked a coal shipment at the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant in Quezon province, south-west of Manila.
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Final findings for the Faslane Five
Posted by bex on 16 May 2008.
A Greenpeace volunteer on the boom at Faslane nuclear submarine base in Scotland
I don’t know if your remember our Trident Tour last year - that five week frenzy of Faslane blockading, crane climbing, arrests, solitary confinement, losing a ship, getting it back again, bearing witness, gigs, press conferences, political events and rallies.
Well, it’s been a long time coming but, over a year after the event, I can give you the final results of the legal wranglings that ensued.
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Sunrise now webcammed up
Posted by jossc on 31 March 2008.
Arctic Sunrise this week became the latest ship in the Greenpeace fleet to carry its own webcam. The webcam updates every minute, so now you can follow the ship's progress almost in real-time, 24 hours a day. Thanks are due to radio operator Thom and external systems expert Wout for making this possible.
The image above was taken as the ship headed into the French port of Cherbourg for a routine maintenance check after the recent successful action at Caen, where the crew successfully prevented a shipment of Amazon timber, acquired from companies linked to illegal logging activities, from entering the EU.
Watch the webcam here. And in case you're confused, that's the stern which it's pointing at - the big 'H' painted on the deck is to show helicopters where to land!
Esperanza back in Tasmania after successful anti-whaling tour
Posted by jossc on 6 February 2008.
Yesterday at 3pm local time the Esperanza departed from Hobart in Tasmania, Australia bringing to a close the 2007/2008 Southern Ocean Expedition. The ship had arrived on Sunday evening to a great welcome from the people of Hobart, including the mayor and a number of councillors.
After spending close to two months tracking the Japanese whaling fleet, Esperanza was forced to leave the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary last week when her fuel supply started to run out. The sanctuary had remained fatality free for the whales during the previous fortnight while the Espy chased the factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, across 5,000 miles of the Southern Ocean.
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Esperanza leaves Southern Ocean but whaling campaign continues
Posted by jamie on 29 January 2008.
A Greenpeace inflatable prevents the Nisshin Maru from being refuelled by the Oriental Bluebird © Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac
A few days ago, the Esperanza - which had been pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet for two weeks - was forced to quit the chase and head back to port as the ship is running low on fuel. But this year's Southern Ocean expedition has been a resounding success.
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Whalers blocked from refuelling in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
Posted by jossc on 22 January 2008.
After eleven days successfully preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from killing whales in the Southern Ocean, the crew of the Esperanza were this morning able to inconvenience them still further by delaying the refuelling of their factory ship, the Nisshin Maru.
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Mangrove planting on Sagar Island
Posted by tracy on 17 October 2007.
Tracy is on the Rainbow Warrior, which is in India to highlight the impacts of climate change and what we can do to stop it. You can follow all the tour updates on the Ban the Bulb blog, and we'll be posting tour highlights here.
We set off early for the southeast corner of Sagar Island, where the task today was to plant 8,000 mangrove seedlings along the shore to help hold back the advancing seas. This is an experimental plantation project started by Professor Sugata Hazra, head of oceanography at Jadhaupur University.
He says that the Sundarbans delta is already experiencing the worst of climate change. Sea levels are rising faster here than the global average and the intensity of cyclonic storms and monsoon rainfall has increased.
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Greenpeace ship sails to save North Sea cod
The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise will sail today from Norway on a mission to save cod from being pushed towards extinction in the North Sea.
During the voyage, which will include waters off the east of Scotland, Greenpeace campaigners will be confronting trawlers from Scotland and encouraging them to stop fishing for cod.
The campaigners fear that, if fishing for cod is allowed to continue, then cod will be wiped out in the North Sea. They are calling not only for a halt to cod fishing, but also for large areas of the North Sea to become protected as "marine reserves".
North Sea cod has been classified as a "threatened and declining species" since 2002. Scientists say that a cod stock in the North Sea of 150,000 tonnes is the bare minimum required, yet stocks are currently estimated at under 70,000 tonnes.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the official scientific advisory body to the European Union, has described North Sea cod as being "outside safe biological limits". They have repeatedly called for a complete ban on cod fishing in the North Sea every year since 2001, yet have been ignored by politicians and the fishing industry.
Willie Mackenzie, Greenpeace campaigner onboard the Arctic Sunrise, said: "We're in the North Sea to save the cod from extinction, and a huge part of the Scottish fishing fleet from collapsing.
"If fishing for cod in the North Sea is allowed to continue, North Sea cod will be wiped out.
"In the very near future, the last cod will be taken from the plundered waters of the North Sea. This would be bad news for the oceans, and devastating for the fishing industry."
Greenpeace is calling on the UK Environment Minister, David Miliband, to deliver a network of marine reserves in the proposed UK Marine Bill and also through the EU Marine Strategy Directive
For more information, contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.
A media briefing on North Sea cod is available here.
The Trident tour finishes
Posted by bex on 16 March 2007.
Part of the Trident: we don't buy it tour blog 
Sunrise over The Sunrise
© Greenpeace/Sumner
Blimey. I’m not sure how time has slipped past so fast but, after a five week frenzy of Faslane blockading, crane climbing, arrests, solitary confinement, losing the ship, getting it back again, bearing witness, gigs, press conferences, political events, rallies and general sleep deprivation, the Trident: we don’t buy it tour has just come to an end.
The Arctic Sunrise set sail for Scandinavia a couple of hours ago, cheered on from the quayside by a smattering of exhausted Greenpeace folk and watched by the police boat that inevitably appears every time the ship moves.
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