December 03, 2008

Greenpeace blocks coal shipment in New Zealand

Greenpeace reported that for several hours, the Rainbow Warrior blocked a shipment of export coal from leaving the Port of Lyttelton in New Zealand.

Officials of the coal ship called Hellenic Sea said that "Just as it was due to depart, the captain of the Rainbow Warrior moved our ship into position and set 2 anchors effectively blocking the larger ship in. Police arrived quickly and boarded the Rainbow Warrior, but 3 activists managed to slip over the side into a waiting boat and speed over to the Helenic Sea. Once there they climbed onto the hull, attached them to the ship and deployed a banner reading 'Target Climate Change'.

When fully loaded the Hellenic Sea would carry up to 60,000 tonnes of export coal mined on the West Coast by state owned enterprise Solid Energy.