 | Pete Chief Mate Scotland |
Hello my name's Pete and I am, at present, the Chief Mate on the Arctic Sunrise.
I have been at sea since 1978, and have been working with Greenpeace intermittently for the last 11 years. Sailing on all of their vessels - from the Amazon to Antarctica, Eastern Russia to the Marshall islands, encompassing Greenland, Spitzbergan, the Americas and Asia, almost 25 countries in total. It's been a wonderfully rewarding and educational experience.
Unfortunately, I've also seen the hardships, vulnerability and pain inflicted on so many by we the few . The so called "developed" nations. I've seen our nations continue to abuse and exploit this world, rather than live with it sustainably. Most of us think of our selves as members of an "intelligent" species. Yet, somehow, we do not see the insanity of our unsustainable living.
One of the founding principles of Greenpeace, is Ahimsa, or non-violence, a term used and practised by that great Indian, Mahatma Gandhi. One of my favourite statements of his was when he was asked , on a visit to the British parliament in London, "What do you think of civilization in the west?" To which he replied, "I think it would be a very good idea!"
Prior to Greenpeace, I worked in the commercial shipping world for many companies, Shell international, the off-shore oil industry in the North Sea, and also, in the mid-eighties, I worked as a mate on a nuclear waste transport operated by BNFL. So, I have a personal interest in this nuclear shipment. Especially since my old ship, the Pacific Teal, is one of the two ships we will be demonstrating against when we get to Japan.
I spend most of my free time travelling - pursuing my main interests of yoga, spiritual philosophy and photography; playing a passable guitar and a painful mandolin; and remembering it is still a wonderful world, though at times only just.
