14 DAY TRIAL // This Tuesday, May 27, several Greenpeace members got busy protesting drilling in the Arctic by doing what they do best: scaling oil rigs and hanging banners intended to raise awareness about the dangers associated with exploring this region.
On its website, the organization details that the two rigs targeted by these latest protests against looking for oil in the Arctic were GSP Saturn and Transocean Spitsbergen.
At the time it was visited by the Greenpeace volunteers, the GSP Saturn was minding its own business in the port of Ijmuiden, in the Netherlands. The Transocean Spitsbergen, on the other hand, was idling in the Barents Sea.
The greenheads did not decide to scale these rigs and adorn them with banners because they felt that they needed some sprucing up. On the contrary, it appears that GSP Saturn and Transocean Spitsbergen will soon be used to drill in the Arctic.
Specifically, the environmental group says that GSP Saturn was hired by Gazprom to exploit an oil field in the Pechora Sea, whereas Transocean Spitsbergen is to be used by Statoil to drill in the Barents Sea.
“International oil companies like Shell, Gazprom and Statoil are part of a new club of Arctic destroyers,” environmental group Greenpeace writes in a press release concerning the two protests.
“Their websites and company logos might look different, but they have much more in common than they would ever admit. The club is open to anyone who is reckless, desperate and driven by profit alone,” it adds.
As reported on several occasions, Greenpeace members and supporters are very much preoccupied with the fact that the Arctic is a fairly harsh environment. Hence, accidents are likely to occur when exploiting this region, and some of these might harm the environment beyond repair.
“Remarkably, the GSP Saturn has never drilled in the Arctic before. It has no experience of working in the most inhospitable regions and has clocked an impressive zero hours operating in the harsh conditions north of the Arctic Circle.”
“In the Barents sea, Statoil wants to drill the most northerly well that anyone has ever drilled in human history. It is closer to the North Pole than ever before, where an oil spill in icy waters would leave little chance for the amazing animals who live here,” Greenpeace explains.
Needless to say, the fact that climate change and global warming are steadily progressing and threaten to drastically alter the world as we know it is one other reason why this organization and several others of its kind wholeheartedly oppose the oil industry.