16 HOURS ON - POLICE END GREENPEACE ACTION WITH ARRESTS

London, 03 July 1997

Police have moved in to stop the Greenpeace action preventing a seismic testing vessel from leaving Ullapool. The protest had been running for nearly seventeen hours when the police began removing and arresting the protesters.

At around 4.50pm yesterday, six Greenpeace activists boarded the Atlantic Explorer which was due to carry out seismic testing in the Atlantic Frontier for oil company Conoco.

The six had remained locked on to the ship throughout the night despite being given an official warning to leave. Two activists used harnesses to attach themselves to the bow line, two more climbed on to the vessel's crane with a 'No New Oil' banner, another locked on to the stern line and one more on to the helideck.

The activists survived the night on chocolate and were reported to be cold but in good spirits earlier this morning.

So far two of the protesters have been arrested in a police operation using a boat. It is thought that they are being taken to Dingwall police station.

The protest is part of the Greenpeace campaign to stop oil exploration in the Atlantic Frontier on the grounds of climate change.

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