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Greenpeace to inspect Arctic oil activity

"Arctic Sunrise" is aformer sealing vessel and was bought by Greenpeace in 1995.(Photo: Greenpeace.org)

Greenpeace’s icebreaker «Arctic Sunrise» is on its way from Murmansk to the Barents Sea and the Pechora Sea for an ecological inspection of oil and gas activities in the area.

Location

The vessel is planned to leave Murmansk on Monday and sail for the southeastern part of the Barents Sea where Rosneft is conducting geophysical survey of the Severo-gulyayev deposit. “We are going to take a closer look at how the survey are being done and how the activity affects the beluga whales”, Head of Greenpeace Russia’s Arctic program Vladimir Chuprov says to RIA Novosti.

“Arctic Sunrise” afterwards sets sail for the Pechora Sea, where GazpromNeftShelf is operating the “Prirazlomnaya” platform. 

“The Arctic Ocean is at threat from climate change, oil drilling and destructive fishing. It’s time to draw a line in the ice and say you come no further to destructive industries profiting from a rapidly changing Arctic. The Arctic needs protection, not industry,” said Frida Bengtsson, Arctic Campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, to the organization’s web site.

Before leaving Arctic waters, the vessel will visit the Norwegian port of Kirkenes.