KODIAK — Greenpeace is shadowing two Shell drilling vessels that left Seattle to start their journey to the Arctic this week.
When the Shell ships arrive in the Arctic to begin boring five exploratory oil wells, the environmental group will be there, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported .
Shell Oil spokesman Curtis Smith said Friday that as long as Greenpeace adheres to maritime law and respects a court order requiring it to stay a certain distance away from the drilling ships, the company has no concerns.
The Greenpeace team stopped in Kodiak this week for three days and met with the Coast Guard to discuss the trip, part of the environmental group’s “Save the Arctic” campaign. The Esperanza will shadow Shell’s drilling vessels as they make their way north. The Greenpeace crew will then spend time documenting Arctic environmental conditions.
The Kodiak meeting was necessary to go over safety concerns and to understand what Greenpeace is trying to accomplish, said Coast Guard Capt. Gregory Sanial.
“With everything, especially in the Arctic, what we’re looking to achieve is safety for life at sea for everybody on the water,” Sanial said. “Our dialogue with Greenpeace isn’t any different than it is with Shell.”
The Coast Guard was also concerned with Greenpeace’s plans to use small submarines to document the Bering Sea’s marine canyons.
“I did explain to them that the Coast Guard has no capability to rescue that submarine,” Sanial said. “If it gets in trouble at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, there is very little the Coast Guard can do.”
Greenpeace plans to use two small submarines — one carrying a single person, the other two people — to take scientists underwater to gather information.
“Our intent is to document that pristine environment in places that no submarine-manned expeditions have been before and to bring back to the world images,” said lead Arctic campaigner Jackie Dragon.
The information, he said, is especially important “as the industrialization of the high north begins.”
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Information from: Kodiak (Alaska) Daily Mirror, http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com
Comments (8)
Add commentGreenpeace is worried about
Greenpeace is worried about the environment? I still remember this from a few years ago when they traveled through our state.
"Greenpeace and Arctic Sunrise Capt. Arne Sorenson were each charged with two counts of operating in state waters without an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan. They also were charged with two counts of operating without proof of financial responsibility for oil spill damages."
Helping the environment 101
Those Greenpeace vessels would make dandy "reefs" and could help fishlife for eons!
Call the French navy
Didnt the French dispatch one greenpeace vessel?
I'm all for exposure and
I'm all for exposure and protesting for a cause. I just hope they don't try and gain notoriety and pull stunts like that stupid tv show they had was ment for.
Thank God for Greenpeace
Note to self: write Greenpeace another check. Get back on the mailing list.
Let's hope the French don't sink this ship in our backyard.
At least the Coast Guard and Shell are being open and transparent with Greenpeace, or so they say.
Wait and see.
I applaud Greenpeace for monitoring the dangerous practice of off-shore drilling in such an environmentally fragile area such as our Arctic coast. They are to be commended. If Shell does everything they are supposed to do, they should have nothing to worry about.
Thank God for Greenpeace
They gave me a name for used toilet paper.
I can't believe it
I agree with Jo on this one.
And now we know why there is no summer this year....hell has started freezing over.
Anybody remember this song from Mad magazine?
...back in the day. Sung to the tune of "My Bonnie"
The blue fish lie dead in the oceans.
The cod fish lie dead in the seas.
They all died of water pollution
Caused by the oil companies.
Bring back, bring back,
oh bring back the blue fish and cod, and cod
Jaws slack, our seas've gone black
Cuz Texaco leased them from God.