Police arrest Greenpeace activists at oil rig off Greenland

Jun 4, 2011, 16:07 GMT

Nuuk, Greenland/Stockholm - Greenland police on Saturday arrested 18 members of Greenpeace, hours after the activists boarded an exploration oil rig off western Greenland.

It was the second protest in a week staged against test drilling in environmentally sensitive Arctic waters.

All 18 activists were to be taken to Greenland's capital, Nuuk, 'for further processing,' Greenland deputy police chief Morten Nielsen told the German Press Agency dpa.

Preliminary investigations suggested activists were nationals of Britain, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Italy, he said.

Greenpeace said the protest aimed at getting rig operator, Scotland-based Cairn Energy, to present contingency plans in case of an oil spill.

Two activists on Sunday breached an exclusion zone around the Leiv Eiriksson rig, and secured themselves in a survival capsule on the rig.

The two arrested early Thursday face charges of trespassing and violating a safety zone around the rig. A decision to expel them from Greenland has been appealed, Nielsen said.

Test drilling began Friday off Greenland's west coast. The rig was located some 240 kilometres from the coast, and Greenpeace vessels were positioned in Greenland's economic zone where the police has no jurisdiction, he said.

Authorities in Greenland have earlier criticized the Greenpeace action, saying Greenland, which in 2009 gained more autonomy from Denmark, had a right to exploit its natural resources for the benefit of its population,

The drilling was conducted under strict environmental and safety requirements, the Greenland authorities said.

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

Read more about Denmark

Read more about Greenland Ecology