Greenpeace activists scale oil rig off Greenland

May 30, 2011, 9:54 GMT

Copenhagen/Stockholm - Two activists from pressure group Greenpeace remained Monday on an exploration rig off western Greenland, the group and local authorities said.

The activists scaled the Leiv Eiriksson rig early Sunday and had secured themselves in a survival capsule near the rig's big drill, Greenpeace said.

The activists have for a week tracked the rig while it was towed on its route off western Greenland using several speed boats to circumvent a Danish coast guard vessel.

Greenpeace said the move was to protest against test drilling in environmentally sensitive Arctic waters.

'The Arctic needs protection, not risky oil drilling deep under the sea,' Therese Jacobson of Greenpeace said.

Greenland in 2009 gained more autonomy from Denmark. Ove Karl Berthelsen, minister for industry and mineral resources in Greenland, criticized Greenpeace's actions as 'part of its eternal struggle for media attention.'

Berthelsen said Greenland had a right to exploit its natural resources for the benefit of its population, and said the drilling was conducted under strict environmental and safety requirements.

Several energy groups hope to be able to tap in to gas and oil finds believed to be off Greenland.

The rig was operated by Scotland-based Cairn Energy.

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