On 18 September 2013, Greenpeace activists attempted to scale the Prirazlomnaya drilling platform, as part of a protest against Arctic oil production. The following day, on 19 September 2013, Russian authorities seized the Greenpeace ship the Arctic Sunrise in international waters in the Russian Exclusive Economic Zone, arresting the crew at gunpoint, towing the ship to Murmansk, and detaining the crew of 28 activists and two freelance journalists for three months. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal investigation, charging the activists initially with piracy and later with hooliganism. Since the Arctic Sunrise had been flying the Dutch flag, the Netherlands filed a case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS case 22) and obtained an order for the release of the crew and ship pending a final adjudication of the matter. In December 2013, despite having had ignored the ITLOS ruling, Russia released the crew anyway as part of a general amnesty adopted by the State Duma, after three months of detention. The Arctic Sunrise itself was released another six months later, in June 2014.
Background On 11 August 2013, the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise left the Norwegian port of Kirkenes to begin a month-long expedition in the Arctic to protest against oil exploration in Arctic waters. The Arctic Sunrise sailed into the Barents Sea and was then refused permission three times by the Russian authorities to enter the Northern Sea Route although the refusal is in violation of international law including the right to freedom of navigation. On 23 August, Greenpeace ignored Russia's ban to protest state oil company Rosneft's operations in the Arctic and entered the international waters of the Kara Sea. On 26 August, the Arctic Sunrise left the Northern Sea Route, after the Russian coastguard boarded the boat and threatened to use force if they would not leave the international waters of the Kara sea.
Prirazlomnaya protest, and seizure of the Arctic Sunrise and crew On 18 September 2013, four RHIB inflatables were launched from the Arctic Sunrise from its position in the Pechora Sea. The RHIBs carried Greenpeace activists and crew members towards Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya drilling platform. At the time of the action, the Arctic Sunrise tweeted "We're going to try and stop the drilling.", although subsequently Greenpeace have stated that their aim was to hang banners on the oil rig to call for an end to Arctic drilling. Two activists managed to attach themselves to the platform and attempted to climb, despite being blasted with water, while another activist tried unsuccessfully to become attached to the platform. The Russian coastguard fired warning shots from AK-74 rifles and four warning shots from a cannon on board the Ladoga coastal patrol vessel. The two activists were removed from the platform and held on board the coastguard vessel, although it was unclear whether or not they had been placed under arrest. On 19 September 2013, the day after the Prirazlomnaya protest, the Russian authorities forcibly took control of the Arctic Sunrise, which was boarded from a helicopter by fifteen Federal Security Service officers in balaclavas, armed with guns and knives. At the time of the boarding, the Arctic Sunrise was in Russia's Exclusive Economic Zone but not within the safety zone around the oil rig, and permission was not sought to board it from the Arctic Sunrise's flag state, the Netherlands. The captain was separated from the crew while other crew members and activists were held in the mess room. The Arctic Sunrise was towed to the port of Murmansk. All of the 30 people on board were taken to a detention facility where they were brutally beaten and interrogated. In early October, the Leninsky District Court in Murmansk issued a warrant to arrest all 30 people. 22 were put in custody for two months pending an investigation and the other eight were detained for three days pending a new hearing. They were under investigation for piracy, which in Russia carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years. On 23 October the charge of piracy was dropped and replaced by a charge for aggravated hooliganism with a maximum sentence of seven years. After they were transferred to Saint Petersburg on 12 November, the Kalininsky and Primorsky district courts released most of the people on bail, and the Murmansk Regional Court rejected an appeal against the arrests on 21 November. According to Phil Radford, executive director of Greenpeace in the United States at the time, the reaction of the Russian coast guard and courts had been the "stiffest response that Greenpeace has encountered from a government since the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985."
Detainees The detainees were christened the "Arctic 30" by Greenpeace and the press. They included:
Crew by nationality US: Captain Peter Henry Willcox Argentina: Second mate Miguel Hernán Pérez Orsi Australia: Radio operator Colin Russell Brazil: Deckhand Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel Canada: Bosun Alexandre Paul, first mate Paul D Ruzycki Denmark: Third mate Anne Mie Roer Jensen France: Deckhand Francesco Pisanu Italy: Deckhand Cristian D'Alessandro Netherlands: Chief engineer Mannes Ubels New Zealand: Boat mechanic Jonathan Beauchamp, electrician David John Haussmann Turkey: Volunteer assistant cook Gizem Akhan UK: Communications officer Alexandra Hazel Harris, 2nd engineer Iain Rogers Ukraine: Cook Ruslan Yakushev
Activists by nationality Argentina: Activist Camila Speziale Finland: Activist Sini Saarela Netherlands: Campaigner Faiza Oulahsen Poland: Activist Tomasz Dziemianczuk Russia: Spokesman Roman Dolgov, Dr Yekaterina Zaspa, press officer Andrei Allahverdov Sweden: Campaigner Dima Litvinov Switzerland: Activist Marco Weber UK: logistics co-ordinator Frank Hewetson, activist Anthony Perrett, activist Philip Ball
Non-activists and journalists by nationality UK: Videographer and journalist Kieron Bryan Russia: Photographer Denis Sinyakov
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