General Description

Specially designed to withstand the most hostile and extreme conditions, the Greenpeace Solar Survival Capsule has been created to withstand the same kind of pounding expected by deep sea search and rescue lifeboats.

It is made from ultra-modern composite, or layered, material which makes it lightweight - just 349 kg unladen, or 1000 kg complete with equipment and crew - and incredibly strong. It can be air-lifted onto land or sea and anchored to the rock with 12 reinforced nylon tie-down straps with ratchet tensioning.

The bright yellow cylindrical shaped capsule, looking like a submarine with no conning tower, is just 3.66mtrs (12ft) long, and 1.83 mtrs 6ft) wide, yet it contains everything needed to support a crew of two to three activists for an indefinite period.

Four manually operated vents provide ventilation and on board power comes from nature itself via wind and solar generation of electricity. Eight solar panels attached to the hull, with a total area of approximately 2.5 square metres, generate up to 27 watts each. This is stored in sealed 12 volt batteries. Back-up power comes from solar electricity and a wind-turbine.

Special Equipment

The survival capsule is equipped with advanced on-board communications and computer systems, as well as wireless equipment. It carries a standard-M satellite telephone (providing voice and email capabilities), HF radio transmitter and VHF basestation.

Food

Lightweight ration packs designed for expeditions have been loaded on board. These provide a spartan but nutritional daily allowance of .... porridge or muesli, for breakfast, high energy biscuits and dried fruit for lunch, and a wider choice for dinner of soups, pasta and rice with sardines, and beef granules. Chocolate is the treat of the day, and the ration packs are also supplemented with fresh fruit and vegetables. The capsule "kitchen" is a solar oven, backed up with a camping gas stove.

Crew

NAME: AL
AGE: 32
NATIONALITY: British
GREENPEACE OFFICE: UK
HOW LONG AT GREENPEACE: 7 years
HOMETOWN/BORN: Newhaven

OTHER GP ACTIONS: Participated in Brent Spar campaign both on the Spar and on support boat. Participated in Greenpeace protests at the Moruroa nuclear weapons testing site in 1995 against French nuclear testing. Experienced boat/inflatable driver. Experienced climber.

PREVIOUS JOBS: Has worked as a builder and musician prior to joining Greenpeace.

NAME: MEIKE
AGE: 31
NATIONALITY: GERMAN
GREENPEACE OFFICE: GERMANY
HOW LONG AT GP: 3 ½ years plus 2 as volunteer

PREVIOUS GP ACTIONS: Worked on the Brent Spar campaign aboard the Greenpeace boat Altair, has participated in various Greenpeace anti-whaling actions, actions linked to the Clayoquot Sound campaign against clearcut logging in British Columbia. She is an experienced climber. Meike's only association with Britain is that during a UK action on the Clayoquot campaign outside the Canadian Embassy , she was arrested and spent a night in a British jail.

PREVIOUS JOBS: Worked as a technical draughtsperson designing medical prosthetics ie. hip bone replacements etc, also worked as an environmental technician

NAME: ERIC
AGE: 25
NATIONALITY: DUTCH
GREENPEACE OFFICE: HOLLAND
HOW LONG: Has volunteered in Dutch office for 5 years.
HOMETOWN: AMSTERDAM

OTHER GP ACTIONS: Participated on Brent Spar campaign on the Brent Spar and on the Greenpeace support boat the Altair. Experienced climber who has participated in lots of climbing actions whilst with Greenpeace. Involved in Greenpeace UK action on Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.

PREVIOUS JOBS: Worked in a climbing shop, currently owns a steeplejack company.

NAME: PETER
AGE: 40
NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN
GREENPEACE OFFICE: Most recently worked in the Dutch office on the genetic engineering campaign.
HOMETOWN/BORN: SYDNEY

PREVIOUS GP ACTIONS: Has participated in 20 - 30 actions and is an experienced climber.

PREVIOUS JOBS: Peter worked in Bosnia, Burundi and Rwanda for another voluntary agency.

ALSO

Ship' Captain - Jon Castle