GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS STAY ON ANCHOR CHAIN OF OIL RIG FOR 12 HOURS - NORWEGIAN GOVT OWNED OIL COMPANY CONSIDERS LEGAL ACTION

23 August 1998

AMSTERDAM - Three Greenpeace activists stayed for 12 hours on the anchor chain of a Statoil operated oil rig, preventing it from moving, from its location off the coast of Norway, before they were removed by police using water cannons early this morning. They were among 20 activists who have been arrested during the past 72 hours of protest against new exploration to prevent dangerous climate change.

The three activists climbed on to the anchor chain of the oil rig Deepsea Bergen, which was located approximately 120 nautical miles off the Norwegian port of Kristiansund, 400 km north of Oslo. The three, two from Denmark and one from the United Kingdom, were arrested by police at about 4 am this morning and flown by helicopter to Kristiansund.

The Norwegian government owned oil company, Statoil is, according to Norwegian news agency NTB, considering a possible damages claims against Greenpeace of between 2 and 4 million Norwegian Krona ($US 300,000 and 600,000 USD). Statoil will reportedly make a final decision early next week.

A further 14 activists were arrested by the Norwegian coastguard yesterday afternoon when they placed themselves in the water around the rig . Two coast guard vessels KV Norne and KV Alesund were involved in the arrests around the rig and the activists were taken on board the Alesund at around 4.00 pm. Coast guard officers soon afterwards boarded the MV Greenpeace and using sledge hammers and crow bars broke down the door of the radio room at around 6.00 pm after four activists including the ship's captain had locked themselves inside. The captain of the ship MV Greenpeace is currently being questioned by police in Kristiansund after the vessel was towed from the site of the protest to Kirstiansund overnight. All the crew and activists were subsequently told they were arrested and the MV Greenpeace was towed by the coastguard vessel Aalsesund into Kristiansund, where they arrived at 7.30 am today.

The actions followed the removal at 2.30 am yesterday of a survival pod containing three activists, from the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden, which had been attached for about 43 hours below the deck of the oil rig after protests began about 7 am on Thursday. The police officers used water guns, nets and professional climbers to remove the pod. The three activists, from the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden were arrested by police and were flown by helicopter to Kristiansund yesterday morning. They were fined 20,000 Norwegian krona ($US 3,000) but are challenging this fine and have been summoned to appear in court on Thursday September 3 in Kristiansund.

The Deepsea Bergen is believed to be now heading south to drill another exploration well in field where Norwegian oil company Saga is the operator but where Statoil is the majority stakeholder with 60% of the shares. Executive Director of Greenpeace Nordic, Per Stenbeck, aboard the MV Greenpeace said: "this was a peaceful protest to point out the madness of spending billions of dollars looking for more oil when we already have found at least four times as more than we can afford to burn without causing dangerous climate change. The threat of climate change is one of the worlds most serious problems and oil companies like Statoil bear a heavy responsibility to help the world solve it."

Greenpeace during the last four days has also being conducting protests against new oil exploration in the Arctic as part of its international campaign to prevent dangerous climate change . The crew of the MV Arctic Sunrise have protested against seismic testing in the Beaufort Sea. Western Geophysical is conducting seismic tests on tracts leased by British Petroleum and Exxon.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Per Stenbeck on the MV Greenpeace MV 0031 653 105 738
- Mats Holmberg, Press Officer Greenpeace Nordic +46 707 726 410.
M/V Arctic Sunrise:
- Paul Horsman,
- Melanie Duchin via INMARSAT +872-1302577
In Anchorage:
- Dan Ritzman, Steve Sawyer +1-907-277-8234
In Washington, DC:
- Kalee Kreider +1202-319-2414
Video and photographs available