Greenpeace activists from climate-hit countries, including the
UK, have boarded a Shell-contracted ship in the Atlantic Ocean
with a banner bearing the message: “Stop Drilling. Start Paying”.
Just two days ahead of Shell’s profit announcement, four
Greenpeace International activists boarded the White Marlin
vessel in the Atlantic Ocean just north of the Canary Islands.
The vessel is on its way to the Penguins field northeast of the
Shetland Islands in the North Sea. The peaceful protest aims to
highlight the worldwide climate devastation caused by Shell and
the wider fossil fuel industry, who haven’t paid a penny towards
the loss and damage they’ve caused.
At 8am [GMT] on Tuesday [JAN 31], the protesters approached the
51,000-tonne heavy-lift vessel in three boats launched from
Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship, and used ropes to climb onto
the deck.
The four activists - Carlos Marcelo Bariggi Amara from Argentina;
Yakup Çetinkaya from Turkey; Imogen Michel from the UK and Usnea
Granger from the US - are now occupying the ship’s cargo, a Shell
oil and gas platform. Two other activists, Yeb Saño from the
Philippines and Waya Pesik Maweru from Indonesia, attempted to
join them but did not manage to board.
The platform is a key piece of production equipment that will
enable Shell to unlock eight new wells in the Penguins North Sea
oil and gas field. The protestors are carrying enough supplies to
occupy the platform for days.
The White Marlin is carrying a floating production storage and
offloading [FPSO] unit for a redevelopment project, as Shell
seeks to squeeze every last drop of oil from the Penguins field.
The production platform is the first new manned vessel for Shell
in the northern North Sea for 30 years. At peak production the
project is expected to yield the equivalent of 45,000 barrels of
oil per day, and Shell has suggested it could open up further
areas for exploration.
Today’s protest comes just a few weeks after Wael Sawan took over
as Shell’s new chief executive. And later this week, Shell will
likely face further pressure as it announces its full-year
profits on Thursday [FEB 2]. The company has already made
eye-watering profits off the back of inflated energy prices,
driven up by Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Yeb Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast
Asia, who has previously acted as lead negotiator for
the Philippines at global climate talks, signed up as a volunteer
with Greenpeace International for the non-violent direct action,
and is now on board the Arctic Sunrise.
He said: “Shell must stop drilling and start
paying. We’re taking action today because when Shell extracts
fossil fuels it causes a ripple of death, destruction and
displacement around the world, having the worst impact on people
who are least to blame for the climate crisis.
“Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry are bringing the
climate crisis into our homes, our families, our landscapes and
oceans.
“So we will take them on at sea, at shareholder meetings, in the
courtroom, online and at their headquarters. We won’t stop until
we get climate justice. We will make polluters pay.
“They must take accountability for decades of profiting from
climate injustice, and pay for the loss and damage they’ve
caused. We need a just transition towards cheap, clean, renewable
energy in a way that benefits communities, workers and the
climate. ”
