Greenpeace ship protests deep sea drilling off Greenland

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza is in the Arctic protesting deep sea oil drilling by UK firm Cairn Energy, the first company granted permission to drill in Greenland’s waters. Cairn Energy was also targeted in the recent Climate Camp protests in Edinburgh, where the company is based. A Danish Navy vessel protecting Cairn’s two drilling sites in the area announced that the Esperanza would be raided and its captain arrested if it breaches a 500-meter exclusion zone. The Danish Navy ship confronted the Greenpeace vessel on Monday. Greenland is an independent country, but also a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Arctic ‘is seen as the last great dash for oil’, but there is no certainty that the sites being drilled will produce any actual oil.

Leila Deen

Greenpeace Campaigner

“To see a huge drilling rig in this beautiful and fragile environment is deeply shocking. The tragic oil disasters in the Gulf and in China this year clearly illustrate the need to go beyond oil. Companies like Cairn need to leave the Arctic alone and start developing the clean tools that will actually help us get off fossil fuels for good.”