The Rainbow Warrior

The Rainbow Warrior is perhaps the most famous Greenpeace ship due to its predecessor sinking in 1985 after French Secret Service agents planted two bombs on the ship in New Zealand.

The current Rainbow Warrior was launched on 10 July 1989, the fourth anniversary of the original ship's sinking.

The ship's name was inspired by a North American indigenous prophecy that influenced the crew on board the Phyllis Cormack, during the first Greenpeace voyage. The prophecy foresees a time when humans, through greed, have destroyed the world, and the Warriors of the Rainbow rise to save it.

Since 1989, the second Rainbow Warrior has sailed all over the world, from the high Arctic to Cape Horn.

Her campaigns have included drift-net campaigns in the Pacific, anti-nuclear at Moruroa Atoll and the Marshall Islands, whaling campaigns in the North Atlantic and toxic campaigns in Asia.

Details and Specifications
Greenpeace converted the Rainbow Warrior into a sailing vessel by constructing three masts on the hull of a North Sea fishing trawler formerly called the Grampian Fame, much like the first Rainbow Warrior.

It is an ocean-going vessel equipped with modern electronic navigation, sailing and communication equipment.

Port of registry: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Date of purchase: 1987
Number of berths: 30
Number of inflatables - 4
   One 6 metre Avon Searider with 200hp optimax outboard
   One 4.8 metre Avon Searider with 90 hp 4 Stroke outboard
   Two Lancers with 50hp 4 stroke outboards
Type of ship: Bermudan rigged Schooner
Call sign: PC 8024
Built: 1957 by Cochrane & Sons, Selby, U.K
Gross tons: 555
Length: 55.20 m
Breadth: 8.54 m
Draught: 4.5 m
Maximum speed: 12 knots
Engines: 2 Diesel type Deutz M.W.M. 2 x 6 Cylinder, 2 x 500kW
Sailing Speed: 7-10knots average
Max Airdraft: 36m

-- Web log of our journey

-- Help Iceland choose whale watching over whale killing