Dutch police arrest 30 Greenpeace activists blocking Russian tanker

Dutch police arrest 30 Greenpeace activists blocking Russian tanker

THE HAGUE - Agence France-Presse

A banner reading "No Arctic oil!" hangs from Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior docked next to the Russian oil tanker Mikhail Ulyanov (L) at the harbour of Rotterdam on May 1, 2014. AFP Photo

Dutch police on Thursday arrested around 30 Greenpeace activists, including the captain of the lobby group's ship Rainbow Warrior, as they tried to stop a Russian tanker delivering Arctic oil from docking.
      
"The captain has been arrested and the ship is being taken elsewhere else," police spokesman Roland Eckers told AFP of the Rainbow Warrior.
      
"Several activists climbed a fence to prevent the ship docking and several others were in small boats also trying to impede the tanker and several were arrested, around 30 activists," Eckers said.
      
The Rainbow Warrior was being captained by Peter Willcox, who was among campaigners detained by Russian authorities last year after staging a high-profile protest against Arctic drilling.
      
No one else aboard the Rainbow Warrior was arrested, while the tanker, bringing a first delivery of offshore Arctic oil to Rotterdam, was now safely moored, police said.