From: From Stephanie Mills aboard Greenpeace Vessel SV Rainbow Warrior
Date:Wednesday 23rd August 1995
Subject: Campaign update


The Rainbow Warrior arrived in Papeete today, docking at 10am. The captain Jon Castle was handed a copy of a decree banning vessels entering the 12 mile exclusion zone around Moruroa, and three crew members -- Stephanie Mills, Philip Pupuka and Derek Nicholls, who were on the Rainbow Warrior when it breached the 12 mile zone in 1992 -- were banned from going ashore.

S.V. Rainbow Warrior arrives in Tahiti.59KB GIF or 19KB JPG. ©Greenpeace/Morgan

The crew were welcomed by local anti-nuclear leaders, afterwards a press conference attended by 120 local and international TV crews and journalists crowded onto the bridge. Members of the crew visited the peace village in the main Place Tarahoi at 4pm this afternoon and got a very warm welcome (and fresh loads of bananas and other tropical fruit!) from local activists.

Skipper John Castle talks to press.105KB GIF or 36KB JPG. ©Greenpeace/Morgan

The Rainbow Warrior will be departing tomorrow at 2pm local time and is expected to arrive at Moruroa on August 27 or 28. The crew will include a farmer from the Larzac region of France, a Tahitian activist, 10 journalists from France, Germany, Japan, Australia and Britain, and two additional crew, bringing the total to 37. Five of the journalists will transfer to other Greenpeace vessels at Moruroa. The campaigners on board are Stephanie Mills and Jean-Luc Theirry.

Campaigner Stephanie Mills talks to press upon arrival.88KB GIF or 31KB JPG. ©Greenpeace/Morgan

Two other yachts will also be leaving Tahiti for Moruroa tomorrow; the Fijian vessel Kaunitoni departed from Fiji yesterday, and the total number of vessels en route to Moruroa reporting in to a daily radio schedule is now 30.