''Arctic Sunrise'' is an ice-strengthened vessel operated by
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
. The vessel was built in Norway in 1975 and has a gross tonnage of 949, a length of and a maximum speed of . She is classified by
Det Norske Veritas
DNV (formerly DNV GL) is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The company currently has about 12,000 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides ser ...
as a "1A1
icebreaker" (the second highest ice strengthening notation at the time of construction).
[ ] The ship is powered by a single
MaK
Mak may refer to:
People
*Mak Dizdar (1917 - 1971), Bosnian poet
*Muhammad Arshad Khan, Pakistani painter popularly known as "MAK"
*Alan Mak (director) (born 1968), Hong Kong film director
*Alan Mak (politician) (born 1984), British Member of Par ...
marine diesel engine.
Under the original name of ''Polarbjørn'' ("polar bear"), she was used as a
sealing ship. The vessel was subsequently used by the French government. Greenpeace purchased the ship in 1995.
Actions
![Arcticsunrisedocked2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Arcticsunrisedocked2.jpg)
''Arctic Sunrise'' has been involved in various campaigns including anti-
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
campaigns in the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
. She is registered as a Motor Yacht (MY).
On 21 December 1999 ''Arctic Sunrise'' and ''
Nisshin Maru'', a
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
ship, collided. The same ships collided again in January 2006; both ships claimed to have been rammed by the other.
The
ICR posted video footage to support its version of the incident. Greenpeace responded that the waves emanating from ''Arctic Sunrise'' in the video support Greenpeace's contention that its vessel had its engines in reverse; Greenpeace also claimed the location of cloud formations in the background of the ICR video indicate ''Nisshin Maru'' was turning into the Greenpeace ship at the time of collision.
In June 2006, ''Arctic Sunrise'' was banned from attending the 58th
International Whaling Commission meeting in
St. Kitts
Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...
by the St. Kitts and Nevis Government citing national security concerns. Greenpeace's protests were discussed at the same IWC meeting with agenda item IWC/58/3, relating to their protest actions against Japanese whaling in the Southern ocean in December 2005 / January 2006, during which a Japanese whaling ship and a Greenpeace ship collided, resulting in this resolution from the IWC.
[Greenpeace (Oceans). 8 January 200]
Whalers ram Greenpeace ship
.
On 30 August 2007, ''Arctic Sunrise'' was involved in a protest against the Canadian laker ''Algomarine'' off of
Nanticoke, Ontario where she was attempting to enter harbor with a load of coal for the power station. A
RHIB came alongside and activists painted the hull of the laker with "No Coal. No Nuclear. Clean Energy." Two activists then boarded ''Algomarine'' and chained themselves to the self-unloading boom. A third activist suspended herself with a climbing harness from the rudder of ''Algomarine'', effectively halting it. The
Canadian Coast Guard was called in to remove the protesters.
In early February 2007 the ship was moored in Leith docks, in Edinburgh. On 23 February 2007, she took part in a blockade of
Faslane Naval Base
His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
and was subsequently impounded by the
MoD
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
but after weeks of the ship being impounded and campaigning the vessel was released.
2013 incident
In September 2013, ''Arctic Sunrise'' participated in
Greenpeace protests against oil drilling activities by the Russian energy company
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
at the
Prirazlomnaya
Prirazlomnoye field is an Arctic offshore oilfield located in the Pechora Sea, south of Novaya Zemlya, Russia, the first commercial offshore oil development in the Russian Arctic sector. The field development is based on the single stationary ...
oil rig in the
Pechora Sea. Greenpeace opposes oil drilling in the Arctic on the grounds that oil drilling damages the Arctic ecosystem, and that no safety plans are in place to prevent oil spills. Earlier in August 2012, Greenpeace staged similar protests against the same oil rig.
On 18 September, the crew of ''Arctic Sunrise'' circled the Prirazlomnaya oil rig, while three crew attempted to board the platform. In response, the
Russian Coast Guard seized control of the ship and detained the activists.
The ship was later towed by a coast guard vessel to the Russian Arctic port of
Murmansk
Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
. The ''Arctic Sunrise'' crew consisted of 30 members from 16 nationalities. The Russian government intended to charge the Greenpeace activists with piracy, which carries a maximum penalty of fifteen years of imprisonment,
although Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the activists are obviously "not pirates". Putin distanced himself from the case and indicated that the independent Russian judiciary would continue with the investigation. On 23 October 2013 the Russian prosecution altered the charges against the activists, rescinding the piracy allegation and charging them instead with hooliganism. A conviction of hooliganism in Russia can result in costly fines and up to seven years in prison. According to
Phil Radford
Philip David Radford (born January 2, 1976) is an American activist who served as the executive director of Greenpeace USA. He is the founder and President of Progressive Power Lab, an organization that incubates companies and non-profits that bu ...
, executive director of Greenpeace in the U.S. at the time, the reaction of the Russian coast guard and courts was the "stiffest response that Greenpeace has encountered from a government since the
bombing
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...
of the ''
Rainbow Warrior'' in 1985."
The Netherlands asked the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to order Russia to release a Greenpeace ship and the activists who were on board. Russia subsequently indicated that it would not participate in the tribunal since the matter was an issue of internal Russian law involving criminal acts against Russian property. Despite the non-appearance, the Tribunal granted provisional measures releasing the entire crew and the ship on a financial bond.
The ship was boarded by the Russian coast guard and towed 500 miles from the Pechora Sea to the northern Russian port of Murmansk in September 2013. The 30 activists were all released from prison due to an amnesty in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Russia's post-Soviet constitution, but the ship remained in Russian port pending a decision by the Russian investigative committee (IC) until June 2014.
Russia was ordered to pay damages on 24 August 2015 to the Netherlands over its seizure.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said the amount of damages would be decided at a later date.
On 18 July 2017 the International Arbitration Tribunal in The Hague ordered the Russian Federation to pay the Netherlands 5.4 million euros.
See also
*, an older Greenpeace vessel that was sunk by French intelligence service in 1985
*, the third Greenpeace vessel to carry the name
*, another ship operated by Greenpeace
References
External links
Video footage of the ''Arctic Sunrise'' colliding with the ''Nisshin Maru''Mirimar Ship IndexGreenpeace Page on MV ''Arctic Sunrise''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arctic Sunrise
Ships built in Norway
Ships of Greenpeace
1975 ships
Netherlands–Russia relations