BS: Russians board Greenpeace

Subject: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 02:48 AM

Greenpeace are protesting the reckless exploitation of oil under Arctic Ocean.
Armed Russian commandos boarded their vessel and are holding the crew prisoner.
They seem to be taking the ship to Murmansk.
Knowing how angry some Mudcatters get about such "piracy" I thought I should start a thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 02:53 AM

E mail sent to members.



Hi Keith,

At least 15 armed Russian Coast Guards have just illegally boarded and taken over our ship the Arctic Sunrise.

They immediately seized every crew member except three people who locked themselves inside the radio room as the guards tried to break in. We had a satellite phone link to them and they were speaking to international media, trying to stay there for as long as they could.

As far as we know, everyone else is being held under armed guard.

Please send an urgent email to the Russian Ambassador in London and demand the Russian Coast Guard release our crew immediately.

The ship had been part of a peaceful protest against energy giant Gazprom which is poised to drill for the first oil to come out of the icy waters of the Arctic.Yesterday there were guns pointed at the protesters, shots fired and two other crew members were arrested as they protested Gazprom's Arctic drilling.

The Arctic Sunrise was circling Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya platform inside international waters and outside the jurisdiction of Russian authorities, making the boarding of the ship unlawful.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 04:14 AM

Hmmm, maybe I'm getting my information from a biased source, but what I've been told is that the vessel was circling WITHIN the Safety Exclusion Zone around the platform and ignored requests to move outsize said Safety Zone.

Russian Federation Law gives Russia jurisdiction over the "Northern Route" seas OUTSIDE the normal national waters limit and into international waters from the viewpoint of pollution and environmental protection.

The Arctic Sunrise is a SINGLE engine vessel and was NOT sailing in company of a Guard Boat or Safety Vessel which could take it under tow if its engine failed, in order to pull it away from the platform.

Therefore, from the Russian point of view, the movements of the vessel posed an environmental threat falling within the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation which justified its boarding.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST,iain
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 04:30 AM

I am curious to know what makes the exploitation of oil in the Arctic become any more reckless than exploiting oil reserves anywhere else.
Greenpeace seem quite happy to burn up gallons of the stuff chasing around in their boat increasing the demand for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 05:46 AM

Any company attempting to turn the most hostile drilling environment on Earth into an oil patch instantly puts in peril everything that makes the Arctic so unique. An oil spill could devastate endangered species like polar bears and bowhead whales, destroy habitat for millions of migratory birds, and jeopardize the subsistence-based Inupiat culture.

Ever since BP spilled 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, it has struggled to mop up the environmental and economic disaster that ensued. With year-round warm water, relatively calm weather, abundant daylight, and close proximity to one of the world's densest concentrations of oil industry infrastructure, the Gulf affords luxuries that don't exist in the Arctic.

It's another world up there. Arctic weather is even nastier than the weather at the site of the Kulluk's grounding. Gales howl across the Arctic Ocean. Total darkness envelops it half the year. Ice floes lock in the entire region six months a year, making navigation almost impossible. (The USCG has only a few icebreaker-class vessels in its entire fleet.)

And this unforgiving ocean wilderness is located more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Coast Guard base.

In the event of a spill – which, given the oil industry's 100-year track record, is practically certain – the Arctic's extreme environment would render containment measures useless.

According to a study commissioned by Canada's National Energy Board and based on 20 years of Beaufort Sea data, three of the most widely-used oil spill containment methods – burning spilled oil in-situ, deploying booms and skimmers, and aerial application of dispersants – would be impossible due to bad weather or sea ice 20-84 percent of the brief, June-to-November open-water season.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: gnu
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 07:53 AM

"Ever since BP spilled 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010..." I thought it was considerably more?

I just can't see that using plantform drilling way up north in pack ice zones is acceptable. Offshore drilling is bad enough as it is anywhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: gnu
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 07:55 AM

4.9M bbls

Edmonton Journal (19 hours ago)

NEW ORLEANS - A former Halliburton manager was charged Thursday with destroying evidence following BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a case that coincides with a guilty plea to a related charge by the Houston-based oilfield services company.

Anthony Badalamenti, who had been the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., was charged in federal court with instructing two other employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP's blown-out well.

Halliburton was BP PLC's cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf in April 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Badalamenti, 61, of Katy, Texas, is charged in a bill of information, which typically signals that a defendant is co-operating with prosecutors. His attorney, Tai H. Park, declined to comment. Badalamenti is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 30.

Also on Thursday, a federal judge accepted a plea agreement that calls for Halliburton to pay a $200,000 fine for a misdemeanour stemming from Badalamenti's alleged conduct.

U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo said she believes the plea agreement is reasonable and agreed with prosecutors and the company that it "adequately reflects the seriousness of the offence."

Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that Halliburton's guilty plea and the charge against Badalamenti "mark the latest steps forward in the Justice Department's efforts to achieve justice on behalf of all those affected by the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, and environmental disaster."

The plea deal has its critics, however. Allison Fisher, an outreach director for the Public Citizen non-profit advocacy group, called it a "travesty."

"Rather than rubber stamp the plea agreement," she said in a statement, "the court should have rejected the bargain-basement deal because it fails to hold the corporation accountable for its criminal acts and will not deter future corporate crime."

Unlike BP and rig owner Transocean Ltd., Halliburton was not charged with a crime related to the causes of the disaster. The fine Halliburton agreed to pay is the statutory maximum for the misdemeanour charge of unauthorized destruction of evidence.

The deal announced in July also calls for Halliburton to be on probation for three years and to make a $55 million contribution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, but that payment was not a condition of the deal.

The company said in a statement that closing the case was a good move for the company and that prosecutors have described its co-operation in the case as "exceptional," as well as "forthright, extensive and ongoing since the outset of the investigation."

Marc Mukasey, a lawyer who represented Halliburton at Thursday's hearing, said the company wouldn't comment on the charge against Badalamenti.

Although Halliburton's plea deal resolves the criminal case, the company still faces hefty civil penalties for its role in the disaster.

A federal judge is presiding over a trial designed to identify the causes of BP's well blowout and assign percentages of fault to BP and its contractors. The second phase of the trial — focusing on BP's efforts to plug the well and determining how much oil spilled into the Gulf — is scheduled to start on Sept. 30.

BP resolved a Justice Department criminal probe of its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster when it pleaded guilty in January to manslaughter charges for the deaths of the rig workers and agreed to pay a record $4 billion in penalties. Transocean pleaded guilty in February to a misdemeanour charge of violating the Clean Water Act and agreed to pay $400 million in criminal penalties.

Prosecutors said that in May 2010, Badalamenti directed a senior program manager to run computer simulations on centralizers, which are used to keep the casing centred in the wellbore. The results indicated there was little difference between using six or 21 centralizers. The data could have supported BP's decision to use the lower number.

Badalamenti is accused of instructing the program manager to delete the results. The program manager "felt uncomfortable" about the instruction but complied, according to prosecutors.

A different Halliburton employee also deleted data from a separate round of simulations at the direction of Badalamenti, who was acting without the authorization of the company, prosecutors said.

Halliburton notified investigators from a Justice Department task force about the deletion of data. Efforts to recover the data weren't successful.

Badalamenti isn't the first individual charged with a crime stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine await a trial next year on manslaughter charges stemming from the rig workers' deaths. Prosecutors claim they botched a key safety test and disregarded abnormally high pressure readings that were glaring signs of trouble before the well blowout.

Former BP executive David Rainey is charged with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil that was spewing from the blown-out well in 2010. Former BP engineer Kurt Mix is charged with deleting text messages and voicemails about the company's response to the spill.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 08:20 AM

Clearly,you dont mess with Putin.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Greg F.
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 09:02 AM

So now Russia joins the club of all the other nations that have boarded & will continue to board Greenpeace vessels.

Big deal.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 09:55 AM

France sunk one, killing crew members.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST,Iain
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 11:14 AM

It seems to me if you burn said resource in order to protest agaainst said resource then your credibility is totally lost.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 02:41 PM

Weren't Greenpeace members repelled by the Russians while attempting to board the Russian vessel before the Russians boarded the Greenpeace ship?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: selby
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 03:11 PM

Potin is in a bullish mood after getting his way in Syria. Where does Greenpeace think they rate in Putin's world very very insignificant I would suggest, so do not be disappointed if the greenpeace boat has an accident.
Keith

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Greg F.
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 04:00 PM

When are Greenpeace going to start protesting the reckless exploitation of undersea oil off the coast of California? Or for that matter, off the coast of Scotland?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Greg F.
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 04:02 PM

What do French fries topped with brown gravy and cheese curds have to do with it?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 01:02 PM

The French blew one up, rather.

Also what BP did to the Gulf wasn't a spill, which means a contained amount was released instead of held. It was a breach of the ocean floor with unknown and possibly unlimited from the human lifespan standpoint possibility.

I would like to see what the Russians are saying in the international media. I shall have to go see.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 01:03 PM

Et j'adore la poutine!

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 03:04 PM

The drilling platform is in the Pechora Sea, on the portion of the shelf claimed by Russia (Norwegian claims lie just to the west).

Under Russian law, the ship can be towed to a convenient salvage location and dismantled.
An equivalent location on the Canadian Arctic shelf would be the Beaufort Sea.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 03:21 PM

The Norwegian state oil company has exploration and drilling blocks just to the west in the Barents-Pechora region of the Arctic coast.

Not well-known to North Americans, The Norwegian state oil company, Statoil, has billions in funds gained from their offshore drilling, and could afford to buy a British or American major with pocket change.

Any Norwegians aboard the Greenpeace vessel? Somehow I doubt it. Would Greenpeace activists be any more welcome aboard one of their platforms?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: gnu
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 05:45 PM

Good point Q. And, as for all the misdirection in the news, yes, the Greenies attacked the Russian platform. I disagree with what they are doing but I also disagree with what them there Greenies are doing and I think the Russians have every right to defend thmeselves. Should the drilling even be allowed? No. Do you go about protesting that by attacking a Ruskie drilling platform? No.Does anyone really think that boarding another vessel at sea by force is even CLOSE to a good idea? News coverage? Yup. Bad news coverage? Fer sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: selby
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 06:12 PM

Greenpeace, know and capitalise on the saying "There is no such thing as bad publicity" some of the acts they commit at sea is piracy. When the big boy hits back they do not like it. I also believe should the drilling be allowed? no, but greenpeaces' way is not my way
Keith

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: bobad
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 06:23 PM

Moi aussi, j'adore la putain.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Stringsinger
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 07:57 PM

Because of the Russian ship, The Potempkin, Russia has had a stormy relationship with Greenpeace who tried to stop the slaughter of whales.

Putin is hardly the harbinger of freedom and civil rights after his disgraceful condemnation of LGBT people. He reacted like a dictator to the Pussy Riot pranks and still carries the redolence of the KGB.

Greenpeace is calling attention to the problem of whale slaughter and environmental issues and though some may not approve of its techniques, no one else aside from Bill McKibben
and the KPL resistance is doing much. Greenpeace is bringing two issues into focus,
1. the environment and habitat for animals and 2. the repressive means that Putin uses to hammer opponents.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 22 Sep 13 - 03:42 AM

Yes.
Greenpeace are the good guys.
Who do you think will invest the most in avoiding pollution, Norway or Gazprom?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Megan L
Date: 22 Sep 13 - 04:10 AM

An old farmer here once said to me whether you look in a field and see a pile of shit or good manure depends on which side of the farm gate you are standing.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Sep 13 - 11:48 AM

Hang ALL pirates! String 'em up and then gibbet them between two tides! Leave 'em up to teach other would-be pirates and mutineers a good lesson! Teach 'em like we taught Edward Teach and William Kydd! (Unless they're good lookin' women.)

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Sep 13 - 01:00 PM

A little stretch in a Siberian prison might teach them piracy doesn't pay.

bobad 21 Sept 13- moi aussi!

Canadian Arctic Offshore Status-

Some Canadian offshore rights in the Arctic Beaufort Sea (9000 square kilometers) have been sold to the small British Company, Franklin, which does not have the resources or the expertise to carry out any drilling. They are free to sell these rights to all comers, however.

Over 5 billions bbls of oil and 53 trillion cubic feet of gas are the potential, based on preliminary drilling that has taken place.

Chevron, BP and Exxon-Mobil have committed hundreds of millions to explore and develop their parcels in the Beaufort Sea.

The Arctic Ocean region soon will be a major producer of petroleum.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Sep 13 - 02:25 PM

Canada-
At present, licenses for part of offshore Yukon are under a work prohibition order.
Map of areas under license, and significant discovery licenses, etc.
From Northern Oil and Gas Annual Report-
www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 23 Sep 13 - 05:32 AM

Greenpeace are not pirates.
Non violent, peaceful protest is all that they do and have ever done.
There was no justification for threatening them with guns and knives.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Greg F.
Date: 23 Sep 13 - 10:08 AM

Get a clue, Keith. You're heading off into never-never land again.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Sep 13 - 09:13 PM

The Russians are towing the pirates and their vessel to Murmansk.

Probably no more news releases until port is reached.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 03:07 AM

Greenpeace are not pirates.
They do not steal, take hostages or pillage.
They make only peaceful protest against environmental destruction.
I am with them.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 12:32 PM

Greenpeace pirates endanger crews at sea, boarding vessels and interfering with commerce.
They are not recognized by legitimate conservation groups.

The closest comparable groups are Al Qaeda sponsored.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: selby
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 12:38 PM

Part of a BBC report
Article 227 of Russia's penal code defines piracy as "an attack on a ship at sea or on a river, with the aim of seizing someone else's property, using violence or the threat of violence". It can be punished with a jail term of up to 15 years, depending on the gravity of the offence, and a fine of up to 500,000 roubles (£10,000; $15,000).

The full report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24222392

You can decide for your self if they are or are not pirates but it seems the Russians have decided

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 03:12 PM

No threat of violence from Greenpeace.
They do not interfere with commerce.
Just whaling and reckless oil exploitation.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Greg F.
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 06:52 PM

Well, Keith, I guess you're an equal opportunity apologist. Branching out fom the radical Zionists are we?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 07:53 PM

Wikipedia has a definition of commerce that includes "commerce is an environment that affects the business prospects of an economy or nation-state.
The drilling platforms of the oil companies contribute to business prospects of nation-states, (in this instance Russia) hence interfering with their lawful activity is interference with commerce.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST,Iain
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 11:28 PM

As someone who has spent decades on offshore platforms I can tell you that if a bunch of idiots tried to board without permission I would be extremely grateful to anyone that hauled their ar***s off to jail.
I suspect if the same tactics were tried in the north sea it would be seen as a potential terrorist attack and the response would be far more forceful.
I have no argument with greenpeace spreading their message but if their means of transmittal puts others at risk and breaks international law they deserve everything that they get.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 02:54 AM

Environmentalists believe that the legitimate commerce of extracting oil from under the Arctic is likely to cause a catastrophe, so yes Greenpeace is trying to disrupt it by peaceful protest.

Whaling was legitimate commerce too, but I am glad that Greenpeace went out to disrupt the killing and raise awareness of what was going on.

Likewise atmospheric nuclear testing.

Likewise the potential destruction of the precarious Arctic ecosystems.
And for what?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST,Iain
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 03:42 AM

There is nothing peaceful about a bunch of anarchist crazies trying to board an oil rig.Their unplanned actions could well disrupt critical operations and cause loss of life.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: selby
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 05:17 AM

I have worked at a facility that these people wanted to close down, where they mounted "attacks" to protect the environment, but caused more environmental damage by their ill thought out logic
They only see and believe what they are indoctrinated with, every body is an a***hole apart from them, they put people with a legitimate right to work at risk. These include dangers of plant conditions, verbal abuse, spitting, kicking, etc. Until there is a camera around and then they sit ever so quite and shout victim. Pretty TV pictures of them, but away from the cameras not vert nice people I am afraid.
Keith

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 05:41 AM

Peaceful protest is quite clearly defined in UK law. You can stand in the way of a truck which is servicing the activity you are protesting against and try to verbally persuade the driver not to cross your line.

You cannot open the truck door and try to enter, nor can you lay hands on the driver.

Directly analogous to the difference between getting between the whale and the harpoon gun, or attempting to board a vssel or rig.

So, that Greenpeace action was beyond what is permissible under the mantle of peaceful protest, whether it qualifies as piracy or not.

Greenpeace have, I'm afraid, picked on the wrong people, who are not likely to be bothered by world opinion, and not known for any leniency toward foreign transgressors.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 10:47 AM

Keith: They do not interfere with commerce.
Just whaling and reckless oil exploitation.

As I said in my first post near the top of this thread:

Greenpeace took a *single engined*, *single-screwed* vessel inside the Safety Exclusion Zone of an offshore structure, with no guard-boat or tug standing by to pull them off in case of engine failure. THIS is reckless....in the extreme! Imagine an engine failure when it was doing say 8 knots towards the platform, inside the zone. Reckless doesn't even begin to cut it, IMO. The Master should lose his certificate for that, even if he's not jailed.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 12:30 PM

Remarks by Putin suggest that piracy charges will not be brought against the crazies. He should reconsider.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 01:08 PM

Piracy charges would not stand.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 03:54 PM

Who knows what stands in Russian jurisprudence?

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 01:33 AM

Activists now held in various pretrial detention centers around Murmansk.The regional investigators are being overseen by Moscow based colleagues. An anonymous official commented "This means it is being taken very seriously"(Borneo Post today)

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 02:51 AM

Putin said they were not pirates.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 05:08 AM

But they were still BLOODY reckless, taking a single engine/screw vessel within the SEZ of a structure, and deserve prosecuting.

Subject: RE: BS: Russians board Greenpeace
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 05:23 AM

President Putin may well be right not to call them pirates-How about eco-terrorists instead.