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Danish Navy Blocks Greenpeace Protest of Drilling Rig

Published Jan 20, 2011 11:21 AM by The Maritime Executive

The Danish Navy intercepted a Greenpeace ship, ESPERANZA, aimed at protesting the Cairn Energy Plc. drilling rig off the coast of Greenland.

Denmark who holds sovereignty over Greenland sent a ship to protect two drilling sites in the Arctic waters. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that the waters off of Greenland’s coast could hold 50 billion barrels of oil and gas.

There is a 500-meter security zone around the rig that the Greenpeace ship is not allowed to enter. The Danish warship prevented the ESPERANZA from entering this zone and disrupting drilling. Danish officials fear the protesting could cause an accident threatening the rig workers and the environment.

Greenpeace posted on their website that “the mission of the Esperanza is clear: to confront the kind of reckless oil exploration that keeps wrecking our environment.” The Esperanza is one of two ships on a "Go Beyond Oil Tour" that set sail mid-August, the other is the ARTIC SUNRISE on a tour in the Gulf of Mexico.

Photo courtesy of Greenpeace