Another Greenpeace Controversy: Vessel Refuses to Leave Anadarko Drilling Site

Just hours after six Greenpeace activists were released on bail by Russia, a small vessel - part of the Oil Free Seas Flotilla - is refusing to move from the site where Texan oil giant Anadarko intends to drill off New Zealand.

Anadarko is due to start drilling at a depth of 1500 meters later this month, using the drill ship Noble Bob Douglas. They intend to drill a second exploratory well at 1100 off the Otago coast early next year (2014).

The Vega is currently above the drilling spot, which is one and half kilometers under the ocean surface. Greenpeace executive director Bunny McDiarmid is onboard the Vega and is hoping to give a children’s flag to the drilling ship, which she contacted by radio. 

She said: “The sailing vessel Vega will not be moving. We will stay where we are in defense of our ocean, in defense of future generations, in defense of climate. We have onboard a flag made by children that says ‘I love my beach’. These children don’t want oil slopping onto their beaches. We’re here to deliver this children’s flag to Anadarko’s massive, untested drilling ship. Anadarko have consistently ignored New Zealand. They, and the government, have hidden vital information from the people of New Zealand. So let’s see if they’ll ignore our children.”

Earlier this year, the Government announced a new law to ban aspects of protesting at sea, known as the ‘Anadarko Amendment’. It states ‘that it is illegal to interfere with any structure or ship that is in an offshore area that is to be used in mining activities, with an exclusion zone of 500 meters.’