From: Desley Mather, Greenpeace Press Officer

Date: Sunday 30 April 1995

Day One of Brent Spar Occupation

We arrived in the Brent oil field before midday. All morning we passed through oil fields and those of us new to the North Sea just can't believe how many oil rigs and platforms are actually out here. The MS Embla, a chartered vessel, has arrived with Greenpeace activists from having sailed from Hamburg, Germany.

Everything happened very quickly as inflatable speed boats were put in the water to take climbers to the Brent Spar rig. We could see the climbers scaling the outside of the rusting platform.

77KB GIF or 29KB JPG. Greenpeace climbers on Brent Spar platform. ©Greenpeace/Sims.

61KB GIF or 18KB JPG. Greenpeace climbers on Brent Spar platform. ©Greenpeace/Sims.

Soon after, one of the oil rig supply vessels came at us at a great speed. It steamed alongside us and its wake made our little vessel, the Moby Dick, rock.

96KB GIF or 44KB JPG. Greenpeace inflatable evades patrol boat. ©Greenpeace/Sims.

The skipper called for us to lash the galley -- I caught five plates before they fly off the bench onto the floor. Next, the supply vessel turned and headed for the Brent Spar rig, where about three Greenpeace inflatables were standing under the climbers who were still climbing toward their soon-to-be temporary home. The inflatables felt the wake but the skilled drivers had no problem staying afloat and in control.

92KB GIF or 31KB JPG. Greenpeace inflatable alongside Brent Spar platform. ©Greenpeace/Sims.

Media from North Sea countries began calling us for interviews about why Greenpeace are out on the rig and what Greenpeace hoped to achieve. Most were shocked to find out that while in the UK the oil industry is given permission to dump these toxic platforms at sea, US law requires that they must dispose of them onshore--clearly a double standard. And the plan to dump this rig is taking place just days before the upcoming North Sea Ministers meeting in Denmark. Ministers attending the meeting are expected to come up with real solutions to the toxic environmental problems effecting the North Sea but it is clear that the UK will be, once again, attempting to undermine strong regulations to North Sea dumping.

It's not long before the climbers have made it onto the platform's helideck. A cheer goes up from the Moby's bridge as the Greenpeace activists unfurl the banner from the very top of the 28 metre-high platform. It read: "Save the North Sea".

75KB GIF or 23KB JPG. Greenpeace climbers on board the Brent Spar platform. ©Greenpeace/Sauch.

73KB GIF or 26KB JPG. Greenpeace occupation of the Brent Spar platform. ©Greenpeace/Sauch.

All day the ship ferried supplies for the climbers from our two ships to the platform, hoisting containers and boxes using a pulley, a speed boat and elbow grease. She was held up by a few mechanical problems with some of the small inflatables and had to call it a night after a swell came up and bad weather set in.

Speeding back to the Moby in the dark, the oil field looked like a city in some sort of weird science fiction movie -- lights from the surrounding operational rigs and their huge gas flares lit up the ugliest kind of "field" on earth. One of the lights made us smile, though--a dim glow could be seen from the Brent Spar. Our generator on the rig was working.

We put out a press release early morning to announce our protest on the rig.

More from the rig as we continue our occupation.

Desley from a rough North Sea!