Xena star arrested after oil ship protest

Feb 27, 2012, 5:12 GMT

Wellington - Television action star Lucy Lawless and five other activists were charged with burglary Monday after spending 77 hours atop a 53-metre drilling tower on a ship in New Zealand during a protest meant to stop the vessel from sailing to the Arctic.

Police charged another protester with illegally boarding a ship after he surrendered Saturday. The suspects were set to appear in court Thursday.

Greenpeace spokesman Steve Abel told Radio New Zealand they had expected the lesser charge of unlawful trespass.

He said they did not steal anything but police laid a more serious charge because of the unusual way they entered the port.

'It's an unusual charge,' he said. 'It just seems not as appropriate as unlawfully being upon a boat.'

Police climbed the drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer, docked in the Taranaki port, to arrest the group that began the 'Save the Arctic' protest Friday.

Greenpeace claimed the action had attracted worldwide support with 133,000 people sending emails to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, urging the oil giant to cancel its Arctic drilling plans.

'This chapter has ended, but the story of the battle to save the Arctic has just begun,' Lawless said.

'Seven of us climbed up that drill ship to stop Arctic drilling, but 133,000 of us came down.'

Lawless, 44, starred in the television shows Xena: Warrior Princess and Spartacus.

'We will continue to stand in solidarity with the communities and species that depend on the Arctic for their very lives until Shell cancels its plans to drill in this magical world and makes the switch to clean, sustainable energy,' she said.

The ship was slated to leave New Zealand Sunday to drill three exploratory oil wells in summer.

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