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A Greenpeace ship impounded by Russia has left the country nearly a year after armed coastguards stormed it in response to a protest against oil drilling.
The Arctic Sunrise, one of three of the group’s fleet, left Murmansk in the Arctic circle on Friday, following several weeks of repairs.
Last September, the ship was held in custody by Russian authorities and 30 campaigners and journalists were imprisoned after two Greenpeace activists boarded a Gazprom oil rig in protest at the company’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic.
The detainment of the so-called “Arctic 30” without charge prompted international calls for them to be freed, leading to the Russian authorities eventually bailing the final activist in November 2013.
Greenpeace said the ship, which Russia released in June, was in a state of disrepair when crew were finally given access to it.
Greenpeace International Arctic campaigner Faiza Oulahsen said: “When the captain and crew boarded the Arctic Sunrise they found it in a bad state, with no maintenance for 10 months, and the ship’s navigation, communications and safety systems either removed or destroyed.
“The Arctic Sunrise is now headed for Amsterdam, where the ship will need to undergo extensive repairs, so that it can get back to protecting the Arctic from reckless oil companies like Shell and Gazprom”.
Referring to the number of people who have signed up to the group’s campaign against oil drilling in the Arctic, captain Daniel Rizzotti said: “We sail home with with the voices of 5 million Arctic defenders in our ears. This is a new beginning.”
