Russia seizes Greenpeace ship in Arctic

A Greenpeace ship has been seized by Russian security officers and 30 of its activist held in detention in the Barents Sea of the Arctic while protesting oil drilling operations there.

According to press accounts citing statements by Greenpeace activists, nearly 15 armed Russian officers seized the Arctic Sunrise ship on Thursday, a day after four of the environmental activists attempted to board a Russian oil platform to prevent it from drilling.

While Greenpeace contends that the drilling threatens the area™s unique and fragile environment, the Kremlin denies the charge.

The initial confrontation reportedly began on Wednesday after Greenpeace activists, located in the northern Pechora Sea, scaled a Russian oil rig operated by Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom Neft Shelf to protest its drilling operations in Arctic waters.

Russian border guards fired warning shots at the Greenpeace vessel and initially detained two of its activists, a Finnish and a Swiss national, according to the group.

This is while the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that it had handed the Dutch ambassador a diplomatic note expressing concerns over the protest effort.

œThe violators™ actions were of an aggressive and provocative nature and had the appearance of extremist activity capable of causing human deaths and other grave consequences,” the ministry said in a statement on its website, noting that the ambassador had been summoned and presented with the note on Wednesday.

Greenpeace, however, contends that Russian security and border guards had no right to get onboard the Arctic Sunrise as it was operating in international waters.

œThere was no reason to seize the ship,” Sergei Tsyplenkov, executive director of Greenpeace Russia, said on the group™s website.

Greenpeace also stated on Thursday that it would launch a permanent picket by Gazprom™s Moscow office and further plans to picket Russian embassies worldwide on Friday.

The Russian oil companies, however, have not yet commented on the standoff with the Greenpeace activist.

The Arctic Sunrise, which arrived in the Russian Arctic in August, had already faced trouble with Russian authorities, who banned it then from the Moscow-controlled Northern Sea Route.

Greenpeace and other environmental groups oppose oil drilling in the Arctic region, arguing that modern technologies are insufficient for cleaning up possible oil spills threatening the region™s fragile ecosystem, and that drilling in the region cannot be economically viable without state subsidies.

MFB/KA

Copyright: Press TV