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November 4, 2009On board the Esperanza
Mike is back on dry land after the Defending Our Pacific tour wrapped up in the Cook Islands last month. At the end of the tour, an “open boat” was held, where a couple hundred locals and tourists got the chance to tour the Esperanza.
Below, Mike gives you a chance to tour the ship, as well - inside and out.
Mike is a Web Editor for GP USA and was onboard the Esperanza serving as a webbie for the Defending Our Oceans campaign. On his blog he writes, "the tour was a really amazing experience for me and seeing as I’m still trying to process all of it, I thought I’d share just a few more videos about life onboard a Greenpeace ship."
Voices of Pacific Activists: Tereapii Mauriaiti
On the Esperanza, Tereapii, or Tere as we call him for short, is the bosun - one who supervises the deckhands and helps the first mate in maintaining the ship. He is from the Cook Islands, where they depend largely on ocean resources for food and livelihood. He is one of the four Pacific activists on board.
Tere grew up on a Rarotonga Island, a place of beauty with a clean environment, which he proudly calls home.
He joined Greenpeace 11 years ago.
“My journeys and travels took me to all the corners of the world. I was able to see amazing places but sadly also saw a lot of environmental destruction."
"I joined the Esperanza 2 months ago and for the first time I saw the effects of climate change right at my doorstep. We have fallen victim o sea level rise, our home is sinking along with everything else, now I am campaigning against illegal tuna fishing im my own region.”
Powering the plunder, fueling the fire.
In Chinese culture, the number 8 is considered a lucky number, as the word for eight sounds similar to the word meaning ‘prosper’ or ‘wealth’ . I am pretty sure the Chen family network of companies had this in mind when naming their fuel tanker, the MV Fong Seong 888. For them, it means good fortune and prosperity.
However, on the high seas the tanker means bad fortune and poverty for the Pacific nations.
© Greenpeace/Paul Hilton
The fuel tanker Fong Seong 888 refueling the purse seiner MV American Legacy. Both are owned by the Taiwanese Chen family network of Companies.
Marco Ferraz: ´The optimism of the action is much more valuable than the pessimism of the thought´
For Marco Ferraz, being a crew member of the Esperanza is a dream come true. He had always wanted to work for Greenpeace and by a stroke of good luck, he was able to join the ship in Cairns just in time for the first leg of Defending our Pacific Tour. The 29-year old Brazilian took to work on deck like fish to water.
Read on as Marco shares with us how his passion for the environment began and continues to this day.
I used to think that I was passionate for animals, forests, all the beauty we can see and feel in nature. Until I discovered that we are all just one; nature, humanity, planet Earth, are parts of a single thing.
Today, I know that I am passionate about life.
The Tale of the Broken Freezer at Sea
Three days in the high seas, and the Esperanza has already made some disturbing discoveries:
A black dot.
Peering through the binoculars, that's how the Taiwanese fishing vessel appeared - a black dot silhouetted against the horizon.
In the past few days, activities have been like tricks from a magician’s hat – you never know what the hand will pull out. Just yesterday, we fished out a banned fish aggregating device (FAD). Today, during a routine reconnaissance, we chanced upon two fishing boats transferring tuna from one to the another.
Rainbow Warriors - past, present and future
We are excited about the creation of a new Greenpeace ship - the Rainbow Warrior III. Having just signed a contract for the build of this state-of-the-art vessel - three crew members from the Rainbow Warrior I and II take us back in time briefly - as we look forward to seeing this legend continue.
Bunny McDiarmid, executive Director of Greenpeace in New Zealand, talks about her memories of life on board the original Rainbow Warrior as a deckhand...
I can still see in my mind's eye and often do, the grain of the wooden decks of the old Warrior, I can remember their feel underfoot, and the smell of the black tar when the sun hit them. I first joined her as a deckhand in 1984 in Jacksonville, Florida in a godforsaken boat yard in the backofbeyond. We were turning her from a motor boat into a sailing boat. And she turned beautifully. And it was the 'we', the 12 crew and 5 or 6 dedicated volunteers that did it all over the course of 4-5 months. The doing of this welded us to her and to each other. I remember Ulla the 24 year old danish fitter and turner who redid all the welding on the chain plates after the yard guys buggered it up.
I remember Henk skill sawing the aluminum bridge wings off so we could mount winches for the main sheet, I remember all of us walking the stays of the main mast as she swung over the yard into her sleeve on the main deck. I remember sitting braced on the main deck as we sailed through the night repairing the mainsail on an old sewing machine and I remember how fast we could unscrew all the bolts holding down the benches in the mess and push them into the companionway so that we had enough room for dancing. No campaign office, there was just the mess and the radio room off the bridge. No email just a clamour for the mail when we arrived in Hawaii after two weeks at sea.
The crew of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985 - Bunny is second from the right
I did not know much about Greenpeace when I joined the Warrior, I just liked what she was going to do - an anti nuclear campaign in the Pacific. The first stop was helping 350 Rongelap islanders move from their home island to another island 40 miles away because of the radiation contamination from US nuclear testing.
Bye bye, Tweety
Over the next few days, as the tour winds down, people will gradually start leaving the Esperanza and making their way back home. However, the first character to get off the ship wasn't a person at all, but Tweety the helicopter who has been ferrying various people over the forests and plantations of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea for the last three months.
Except for Tweety, this doesn't just mark the end of the tour around south-east Asia, but also her career with Greenpeace. After 25 years of sterling service, she's being packed up and sent away for refurbishment, but she won't be returning to work for Greenpeace.
Tweety has been a vital part of many ship tours, not least during the various Southern Ocean expeditions when she was instrumental in tracking down the Japanese whalers. Watching her being lifted off the Esperanza and her personal effects following her on to the waiting barge was the end of a little piece of Greenpeace history.
Farewell to the palm oil boom town
After giving the Isola Corallo a farewell paint-job, we've finally taken our leave of Dumai. We did everything we set out to do (and perhaps a bit more), and we've reminded people both nationally and internationally about the problems associated with palm oil production in Indonesia. And as I mentioned in my last post, palm oil giant Sinar Mas has been rattled by our actions and, even though Greenpeace campaigners are now due to meet with their representatives next week in Bali, we're not going to stop exposing the wanton destruction at their hands (and the hands of other companies) of the forests and peatlands here.
This afternoon, we arrived in Singapore which is to be our final destination. This expedition is winding up but don't go anywhere just yet - we have one last task to perform but you'll have to wait for Monday to find out what that is.
In the meantime, remember that poll the Jakarta Post was running about whether our actions were justified? They've published some of the response on their website and apart from one or two negative comments, everyone thinks we did the right thing. Thank you very much if you emailed or texted in - you can go one better and write to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of Indonesia, demanding an immediate end to deforestation in his country.
Tug of war
I had thought that, after the Esperanza nipped into the berth reserved for the Isola Corallo this morning, we'd have some time to rest (and, in my case, a long shower) and prepare for the inevitable visit by the authorities. It didn't quite work out like that and by mid-morning, events were moving rapidly.
The other ship alongside the dock had departed and was replaced by a big barge which was brought right up to the Esperanza's stern to hem us in. With the Corallo preparing to come in (the request for a pilot to guide the ship in had been picked up over the radio), it became clear that the port authorities were preventing us from moving up the berth.
Greenpeace ship moves in to block more palm oil tankers
Apologies for not posting an update yesterday. The anchor chain of the Isola Corallo has been occupied ever since Wednesday night, and still is, but we've been waiting for another opportunity to present itself. Finally, after long hours of observing the traffic in Dumai port and several false hopes, about an hour before dawn our chance came. Now the Esperanza itself has moved in to block the Corallo from taking on its cargo of palm oil.
There's one part of the quayside here dedicated to piping palm oil into the bellies of the tankers. Up until a couple of hours ago it was occupied by two other ships; then one of them moved out and the Esperanza was able to take its place.
We're now preventing the Corallo from coming alongside - it's a much larger ship, just a bit bigger than the Gran Couva we saw earlier in the week, and so both us and the other ship already here will need to move before the Corallo can come in.
Despite the early hour, all hands were on deck. It was my job to help fix the mooring lines once the Esperanza had reached the quay, which involved jumping down from the poop deck. Pipes and thick mud lay directly beneath, but I managed to get down without breaking my ankle.
The chain reaction continues as ship number two is immobilised
So despite several requests to leave Dumai, we haven't left (even though the harbour master visited the ship this afternoon and turned out to be a really nice guy). The reason for that is that we have a bigger and much more significant target in our sights. Now it's arrived and the Esperanza's crew have swung into action once more, and another anchor chain occupation is under way.
We've been waiting a few days for the Isola Corallo to turn up, and at one point a spelling mistake in the ship's name made the researchers wonder whether it even existed. It's time of arrival has slipped later and later but around 7.30pm it finally dropped its anchor.
We headed out into the dark and once more made for the anchor chain. The designated climber scrambled up the chain but, unlike with the Gran Couva, the crew showed very little interest. A couple of heads peered over the side, but their captain had already been informed what we were up to. Plus the crew were probably more interested in shore leave, but I imagine that will change.
Wanted: your opinions on our palm oil actions
The Jakarta Post, Indonesia's main English-language newspaper, is asking for readers' opinions on our recent activities in Dumai:
Greenpeace has blocked several palm oil shipments, preventing them from leaving Indonesia, and has called for an end to forest clearing for palm oil plantations. What do you think? Send your opinions by SMS to +62 81118 72772 or by email to readersforum@thejakartapost.com. Please include your name and city.
Meanwhile, enjoy this quick video of clips from the past couple of days. It was made to send round TV networks and media outlets, but you can still get an idea of what it was like to be there.
Greenpeace climber brought down in front of cops, spectators and fruit sellers
I was hoping we'd make the anchor chain occupation last for at least 24 hours and earlier this morning it was looking like we'd make it. However, we lost out by about 40 minutes because at 12.45pm our climber was removed from the Gran Couva and has been taken away by the police. Never the less, our actions prevented the departure of the Gran Couva and it's cargo of palm oil, plus we've made a big noise in the local, national and international media coverage about the link between the palm oil trade and deforestation.
According to our logistics co-ordinator Ric who was on the scene, police boats gathered during the morning until about 60 police were waiting at the bottom of the anchor chain. The main police boat had an embarrassing mishap on the way in, colliding with the Gran Couva before retreating to a safe distance. Adding to the crowd were pompong boats selling pineapples, jack fruit, onions and other essentials, like little floating shops, as well as various spectators watching the drama.
Paint 'em up, hose 'em down: taking action in Indonesia
Another dawn start today. Yesterday, we arrived in Dumai, a large port on the eastern coast of Sumatra and the second largest in Indonesia in terms of palm oil exports, and the scene of last year's Rainbow Warrior action. This morning, we headed out from the Esperanza and began painting slogans on the hulls of three ships anchored in the port.
They're loaded with palm oil from the plantations of Riau, just like the ones we've seen from the air and from the ground over the past few days, so being daubed with 'Forest Crime' and 'Climate Crime' in bright yellow paint is only appropriate.
The first stop on our tour of the port was the Gran Couva, a large tanker carrying 27,000 metric tonnes for palm oil giant Wilmar (the same company that owns the plantations John flew over on Saturday) and bound for Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The two painting teams got off to a great start, marking out the positions of the letters and getting stuck into 'Crime'. Angry shouts from the Gran Couva's crew did nothing to dissuade the painters, and neither did the hoses which were turned on them. Unfortunately, the water-based paint didn't last so well and some of the letters began to run.
The team in the small inflatable headed to the stern to try their luck there, but were met by more hoses. The second team in Susie Q fared better and were able to complete the words 'Forest Crime' on the other side of the bow. Watching from a short distance in the media boat, I was impressed how easy the painters were making it look, despite the water hoses and the awkward task of writing with paint rollers fixed onto broom handles.
Revealing the facts about palm oil to the Chinese public
posted on behalf of Shangwen, forest campaigner from Greenpeace China, on board the Esperanza
The Forest Defenders Camp we set up last year has gone, and so too has the ancient forest.
I saw the disastrous landscape through the lens of John our photographer and the pictures he has taken. I can feel the pain of our earth and I feel pain in my heart that I couldn’t catch the last cry of the forest which once stood in the same spot where we held the banner. There is an echo in my ears: the Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. What will be the future?
The Earth needs a voice. The forests need a voice. I believe that’s why we, Greenpeace volunteers from around the world, stood in the middle of the devastation on Friday, even though many times we’ve felt hopelessness in the depth of our hearts. We must face the truth instead of turning our back and walking away. We must make decisions and take action instead of just talking while the forests are being chopped down. We must understand this: if we can not stop deforestation immediately, we will lose the struggle against climate change.
Sumatra's dark, satanic mills
posted on behalf of John on board the Esperanza
As a Greenpeace photographer, I find myself creating pictures in many interesting places. In any part of the world where there is a critical environmental problem, the Greenpeace photographers are there making the best visuals possible to share with everybody. Yesterday was no exception.
It was the last of the twice-daily, three-hour helicopter aerial surveys of Riau province in Sumatra, carried out over the last four days as part of the Esperanza's Forests for Climate tour of Indonesia. Every flight survey has been fascinating but this one - documenting the palm oil plantations belonging to Wilmar, one of the biggest palm oil companies in Indonesia - was breathtaking on a scale I have never seen before.
After flying a short while over intact and beautiful peatland forest, in the distance there appeared what looks like a sea or enormous lake. As we approached, we started to make out a green plain stretching to the horizon. Closer still and we knew we had found what we were looking for – the Wilmar plantations.
Alongside the forest, up against the wall
I've scrubbed and showered but there are still traces of mud sticking to me. It's my own fault - I guess I shouldn't have gone tramping around the peatlands here in Riau. But the picture above, that's us: some of the Esperanza's crew and several Indonesian volunteers pulling our banner tight against the forest wall, the straight line that separates the thriving ecosystem from the barren areas which have been cleared of trees. In case you're wondering, I'm at the top of the P in 'STOP'.
It was an early start and a long drive to get to the site on the Kampar peninsula, chosen because PT Arara Abadi-Siak has permits to set up plantations for acacia trees, used for making pulpwood and paper. The company is a subsidiary of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), which is in turn owned by our old friends Sinar Mas - as well as having fingers in pulpwood, Sinar Mas is also one of the largest palm oil producers in Indonesia (not to mention a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), and many of the nearby palm oil plantations have their name above the gate.
Driving along the road from Sungai Pakning was deceptively pleasant - elegant wooden houses were nestled amongst lush green foliage, and kids were cycling to school. But after crossing the Siak river on the ferry, we were deep into plantation country. Rows of oil palms lined the way with their shaggy coats of ferns, and bunches of palm fruit lay by the roadside. Along one stretch, intact forest sprawled to the right while regiments of young oil palms were springing up on the left, the forest wall a thick blue line on the horizon, and a pipeline followed us all the way from ferry.
Slash and burn in the forests of Sumatra
We've arrived in Sungai Pakning, a small port on the coast of Riau in Sumatra, and the Esperanza is anchored in a wide, silty channel running between the mainland and two islands, Pulau Bengkalis and Pulau Padang. The soupy water flowing gently past the ship will be down to the Siak river, the mouth of which is just a few miles south.
Sungai Pakning might be small, but the signs of what's happening further inland are everywhere. Large container ships wait patiently at anchor for their cargoes and the flame at the top of a refinery lights up the night sky. For we're on the edge of the great plantations which have come to dominate this area, both the oil palms we've seen so much of and, increasingly, acacia trees which are being harvested to be used as pulpwood and paper.
All these plantations are sitting on areas which used to be lowland forest growing in thick, water-logged peat. Of course, the forest is no longer there and the peat has been drained and burnt, causing the annual smog which drifts over south-east Asia during the burning season. It's this chopping, draining and burning which is releasing colossal quantities of greenhouse gases and helping to give Indonesia the number three spot in the global emissions charts.
Cycling through Sumatra to meet orang-utans
posted on behalf of Madeleine, captain of the Esperanza
In early 1995, sailing on a Greenpeace ship was still just a dream for me. I had applied several times over the years, but I never received anything other than the standard courtesy reply. If people asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I used to tell them that one day I'd love to sail on a Greenpeace ship.
But at that time I was in Sumatra. For a few months, I had been learning to surf on the island of Nias, famous for the surf break at Lagundi Bay. My board had just snapped for the second time and it looked like it was irreparable, so I was searching for the next adventure. I caught the ferry back to Sibolga in Sumatra and bought the cheapest mountain bike I could find to replace my surfboard as my travelling companion. So I had a 20kg bike and a backpack which weighed 8kg and held all of my worldly possessions.
A VIP tour of the Esperanza
While we were docked in Jakarta last week, hundreds of people came to see the Esperanza and take a tour around the bridge. These included Greenpeace supporters, journalists and the general public, but there was one group that was particularly special.
When he's not being second mate on various Greenpeace ships, Dmitri runs a charity called Orphans Trust Fund in his adopted home of New Zealand to help kids who lost their parents in the 2004 tsunami. He was on board the Rainbow Warrior when she delivered aid to Aceh in Sumatra following the disaster and stayed behind to help when the ship departed.
The money Dmitri raises helps to pay for the kids' education at a school called Fajar Hidayah which has faculties in both Aceh and Jakarta. As we were in town, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to give them an exclusive tour of the ship.
Here Dmitri explains how he came to set up his charity and why he believes helping just a few children is very important. Listen to the interview, and there's a transcript below.
Forests For Climate: the great tree protection scheme
With a scheme like Forests For Climate, intact forests would become more valuable than cash crops like palm oil © Beltra/Greenpeace
Change is in the air. We've picking up several new crew members in Jakarta who are joining the Esperanza for the journey to Sumatra and the peatlands of Riau province. As I've been escorting one or two of them around the Esperanza, I can't help thinking back to when I first came on board barely more than three weeks ago. It's odd to think that this ship which is now so familiar was once just as new to me as well.
You'll get to meet some of them over the next couple of weeks but the big event today was perhaps the lynchpin of the entire expedition. In the VIP room of the bustling passenger terminal at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, we presented our Forests For Climate plan to get money flowing from developed countries to fund forest protection in Indonesia, Brazil and elsewhere, with the eventual aim of zero deforestation across the globe. I covered the nuts and bolts of it a couple of weeks ago, but it's a complex piece of work so it's worth going over some of the details again.
'It's more powerful than just wearing a t-shirt'
It’s slightly weird being docked after ten days at sea. I woke this morning to find Jakarta hovering on the horizon with container ships lining the route into Tanjung Priok port, and sadly the glistening blue seas and dense white clouds have been replaced by grimy harbour water and a blanket of brown smog. But the energy of the place is infectious and I’m itching to get some shore leave and explore.
Before we launch into the next phase of our tour and really get to see the damage that palm oil is doing to Indonesia’s environment, there’s one last interview to present. Madeleine is the ship’s captain and, although this is her first time as captain of a Greenpeace ship, she has a long involvement with both this organisation and others involved in environmental and social campaign work.
With yesterday's Rainbow Warrior activity in the UK, it's particularly interesting to hear Madeleine describe her first experiences with the ship in the Pacific and explain why she loves direct action. There’s a transcript below.
Our man in the sky
Someone who has taken part in all the research flights our helicopter Tweety has carried out during the Esperanza's current tour is, of course, the pilot. Shaun (or Dingo as he's known about the ship) has flown every mission in both Indonesia and during the previous leg in Papua New Guinea.
As a result, he's seen a considerable amount of New Guinea and is able to draw comparisons between the two sides of the border.
Listen to the interview below to hear about Shaun's experiences flying over New Guinea.
Video: Investigating Indonesia's last forest frontier
To show off the most interesting footage from the helicopter trips over Papua during the Esperanza's current tour of Indonesia, we’ve compiled the video below. It’s narrated by Bustar, who went on many of the flights, and he explains why protecting the forests of New Guinea is so important. Enjoy.
Feet on both sides of the border
On the Esperanza, we've been sailing past and through some of the most wonderfully named parts of the world - Flores, Butu, Ceram, Halmahera and their associated seas - which for me conjure up images of trading ships at full sail, laden down with cargoes of nutmeg, pepper and cloves.
It's a very Eurocentric view, of course, and the spice trade was often at the expense of the local population, but I can't help finding the associations with exploration and uncharted waters bewitching. (And for a very readable account of that period in history, you could do worse than track down a copy of Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton.)
But while these exotic locations drift by, we're preparing for our arrival in Jakarta next week, and the long journey is also giving me a chance to catch up on some of the interviews I conducted between Jayapura and Mankwari.
One of the more interesting and colourful people I've had the pleasure of working with on this expedition is Dorothy. She's a Greenpeace forest campaigner from Papua New Guinea and joined the Esperanza in Port Moresby in August. Dorothy left the ship last weekend in Manokwari but before she disembarked, I wanted to find out why it was important that she stay on the ship over the border into the Indonesian half of New Guinea.
Listen to the audio clip below and hear about Dorothy's links to both Papua and Papua New Guinea.
Lending a helping hand with a little first aid
Valeriy treats an infected leg in the Esperanza's sick bay © Greenpeace/Rante
Even though we're in Indonesia to tackle big, global issues of deforestation and climate change, there's still time to help out with smaller problems as well. The Esperanza has a sick bay and a qualified medic on board, and in a country like Indonesia there are plenty of opportunities to dish out a little TLC.
Valeriy, our Ukranian doctor, has been keen to help some of the people we've met with diagnosis and, where possible, treatment of various ailments. He held an impromptu first aid clinic for one village in Papua New Guinea a few weeks ago and wanted to do something similar on this side of the border.
Follow the Esperanza in Google Earth
If you're still trying to picture the destinations we've been to so far and the route we're taking through Indonesia as part of the Forests For Climate tour, you can now follow the Esperanza in Google Earth. Just download this Googe Earth layer and you can see when and where the highlights on the tour have occurred. (You'll need to have Googe Earth installed as well, of course.)
New placemarks will appear automatically as we update the journey, so check back often to see what we've been up to and how the campaign is progressing. If you don't want to install Google Earth, you can also see where we are in your web browser.
Meanwhile, we left Manokwari on Monday and are sailing west towards Jakarta where we'll arrive in the middle of next week. We've passed through a narrow passage called Selat Sagewin, less than 2 miles between the forested slopes of two islands, and we're now cruising through the Ceram Sea.
The crew have been taking advantage of the journey to Jakarta and the paint pots have come out to give some parts of the ship a touch-up. I also been taking a break from my web duties to help out and yesterday a gang of us were giving the forward bulkhead of the boat deck a new coat of paint.
While we were working, Locky the bosun and Silas spotted a commotion in the water a couple of hundred metres away. Areas of the sea were foaming, and every so often a plume of water would shoot skywards which could only mean one thing - whales. Several of them appeared to be herding schools of fish into bait balls and occasionally a set of massive jaws breached the water as a whale scooped up it's prey.
Dimitri, our second mate, took a few photos and although we were some distance away, you can clearly see a whale gorging itself. It's seven years since he's seen a whale at sea - a lucky day, indeed.
Manokwari, here we come
A dance troupe from Manokwari take a tour of the Esperanza's bridge © Greenpeace/Rante
After nine days at sea, the Esperanza pulled into Manokwari harbour this morning - that's Manokwari in the Indonesian province of West Papua, not any other Manokwari you might be thinking of. Crowds of people were already on the dock and despite the overcast skies, we received one of the colourful and exotic welcomes I'm becoming accustomed to on this trip, with traditional dancing and singing to greet us when we disembarked.
Manokwari isn't what I expected. The image I had in my head was a quite an industrial place with lots of concrete, but although I haven't left the port yet it looks very pleasant. It's a small place, strung out along a bay and from the ship, most of the town is concealed by palms and trees. And just behind the town lies the forest, the tall tropical trees towering over the nearby buildings.
Who's who in palm oil: commercial interests
See that yellow and black blob? That's Switzerland, about the same size as the area waiting to be converted into palm oil plantations
As we saw from the helicopter flights yesterday (part of the Esperanza's Forests For Climate tour around Indonesia), palm oil is beginning to make its presence felt in Papua and West Papua. So far, we've surveyed plantations in two areas - Lereh near Jayapura last week and of course the one near Teluk Bituni from yesterday - and compared to the vast monocultures in Sumatra and Kalimantan, these are pretty small affairs. But their presence here is a reminder that huge areas of forest have already been carved up on paper between the Indonesian government and palm oil companies, and will be carved up for real if we don’t take action.
While only 60,000 hectares of palm oil have been planted in this region, the government has handed out permits covering four million hectares (that's just a bit smaller than Switzerland), and at the moment much of this is densely forested. Palm oil producers like Sinar Mas, Medco, Korendo and Asian Agri have been given the rights to move in and expand their huge agribusiness operations but they're not moving in en masse, at least not yet.
Funny quit coal editorial cartoon
This is about a blockade the Rainbow Warrior did the Philippines that got good support from even some politicians. Our ship parked alongside a coal shipment at a power plant's dock - preventing other shipments from coming in.
Being an island nation, the Philippines is especially vulnerable to climate change. They also produce 54 percent more electricity than they use, but have major power grid problems. We're saying fix those, and invest in things like efficiency and renewable energy.
FYI - That's Philippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bouncing out of her chair. Hello President Arroyo! The world is shouting. Are you listening?
Pacific engineer lets off steam!
My name is Fred Langley Jnr. and I am from the Solomon Islands. My grand parents originated from Kiribati, China, Australia and the Solomon Islands itself and I am married with one kid. My profession is marine engineering but I am also working as a lecturer at the school of marine and fisheries studies in Honiara (capital of the Solomon Islands). I have come to know about Greenpeace through some friends of mine (Geoff and Philip) who are working for Greenpeace in Honiara.
I just completed my studies in 2004 when Greenpeace was looking for a volunteer deckhand and I decided to sign on for a three month period. So I got on board the Rainbow Warrior II in Fiji. It was also an ocean campaign and we spent roughly 18 days in the Pacific Ocean monitoring fishing vessels. We also visited a few countries in the pacific like Kiribati and Federated Stated of Micronesia. Finally we end up in Honiara where the Ocean campaign stop and Forest tree campaign started. I signed off in Indonesian a few weeks later.
When I returned home I got a job at the Marine School for more than three years before I joined the Esperanza in Honiara recently.
This trip is quite different from my first experience. I've made more new friends and have been learning more about doing actions and campaigning in addition to gaining a better understanding on the aims and goals of Greenpeace as a whole. More over I am part of the engineering team on board which has given me a wonderful opportunity to increase my experience and knowledge regarding an engineering career.
How to survive cabin fever
Sari, our international project leader (and my occasional cabin mate), takes a break on the ship for a game of "cabin ball".
Life on the Esperanza has been pretty mellow lately since we've been in transit. When we're not busy doing actions it can become frustrating because the days can get very monotonous. I hit a mental wall recently when I realised I am totally stuck on this ship and not getting off soon. I'd love to to go for a long walk but there's only so many times you can walk around the deck before you start feeling dizzy or someone gives you a job!
One evening, out of sheer boredom I invented a game with an inflatable ball, which has turned out to be a much loved recreational activity for some of us. It's like volleyball only the ball ricochets off the sides of my cabin and players must keep it off the floor. Some have frowned at the idea but once they start playing it they don't want to stop. The only problem is that it makes a lot of noise and tends to send other items flying around the cabin so I am on the lookout for a better location.
New ship webcam - Arctic Sunrise
Thom (radio operator) and Wout (external systems techie) have set up a webcam for the Arctic Sunrise. Now you can follow what the ship is up to, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That said, today's a Sunday - the only day off for the crew. Keep your eye out for coffee drinking.
Tune in tomorrow (Monday) and you'll see activity on deck again. The ship's in port for maintenance, so if you like watching things like new satellite dish instillations, then you are in luck.
Post comments to this entry for the crew and Thom will pass them on.
Merkel and Bush
My favorite headline of the G8 so far, "Bush, Merkel vow to fight poverty, disagree on climate". This follows what was apparently a very nice lunch meeting between the two of them. From the article:
"But Bush made no reference to Merkel's demands that G8 leaders commit to cutting global greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and limiting the worldwide temperature rise this century to 2 degrees Celsius.Merkel, for her part, recognized that while the US and Germany agreed on combating poverty in Africa, there were other "areas here and there" which needed further discussion."
In perhaps not unrelated news, today German police boarded the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise - even though it was well outside the summit security zone. The police boarded without a search warrant and confined the 24 crew before seizing Greenpeace equipment including engines from inflatables, making the boats unusable, and the hull of a Greenpeace hot air balloon.
I wonder if, at any point during the lunch, Merkel and George "there ought to be limits to free speech" Bush touched on how far a government should go to ensure that leaders of the world's wealthiest nations can meet without the inconvenience of protest.
Greenpeace statement in response Merkel/Bush comments today.
From the BBC: Who are the G8 protesters?
Captain's blog stardate -316217.69: Mike's Week
Mike Fincken is aboard the Rainbow Warrior as part of the Middle East Peace tour. Here's his personal blog of a week in his life:
Wednesday 07 March
On the last of the four flights connecting Cape Town to Aden I awoke to the shaking of the airplane moving rapidly down the runway. I awoke confused. I could not tell if we had just landed or were about take off, until the front of the Yemeni airplane lifted up and my stomach sank. I drifted off again. The trolley ran down the aisle and stopped against my foot, a piece of sweet bread was placed in my hand. The trolley passed me by, heading down toward the back of the plane, my headed nodded forward and the sweet bread hit the cabin floor.
Following my day-and-half commute to work, it was a welcome sight -the Rainbow Warrior. Lit up at night, lying quietly alongside in Aden harbor. The crew were mostly tucked away in their bunks, but a few familiar faces were there to greet me. Canadian Phil, (the coxswain who had made the dramatic rescue of the three Sirens off Corsica during the first week of my last voyage on the Rainbow), drew my big black suitcase over the gunwale and onto the steel deck. He carried it through to my cabin - I had arrived home from home.
Fair winds, Bruce Abraham
Pete Willcox, first skipper of the Rainbow Warrior, wrote this homage to activist Bruce Abraham:
Bruce Abraham died yesterday. I do not know the details.I met Bruce in 1983 in Seattle, when we were there getting ready for that summer in Alaska. He wanted to join the crew, and came with us on the day trip from Lake Union to downtown Seattle. It was a tricky docking, with a good breeze blowing us off the dock. Bruce talked his way onto the bow and somehow into the position of throwing the heaving line to shore. The monkeys fist flew off the bow, right towards some picture windows of an overlooking restaurant. As the pilot and I gasped, Bruce at the last second gave a little flick of his wrist, and the heaving line fell gently on the dock. I hired him on the spot as third mate.
Greenpeace at the Mirno More
© Greenpeace/Ingrid Frankhauser
Just been looking at photographs from the Mirno More peace fleet trip on the Greenpeace Austria website, with lots of happy faces on board a Greenpeace yacht in the Adriatic.
Mirno More means "peaceful ocean" in Croatian, and is organised every year by an Austrian social NGO, Started 15 years ago following the Yugoslavian war, to give refugee children from the war regions a possibility to hook up with their origins while spreading the peace message.
Rainbow Warrior Rescues Stricken Yacht
On board the Rainbow Warrior, outboard mechanic Phil tells us how he was dragged from his bed at some ungodly hour to rescue three Portuguese ladies whose yacht had run aground off the coast of Corsica. All in a night's work for the crew of the Rainbow Warrior!
Read more on the Defending our Mediterranean »
Rainbow Warrior delivers MSF aid to Beirut
Larnaca Cyprus:Rainbow Warrior loading supplies for MSF humanitarian mission to Lebanon. © Greenpeace / Phillip Reynaers
As we already mentioned, the Rainbow Warrior is currently helping Medecins Sans Frontieres to deliver aid to Lebanon. The latest news is that the the RW is back safe and sound in Cyprus after its first sucessful mission to Beirut.
More here...
Rainbow Warrior to help Medecins Sans Frontieres mission
Our colleagues on board our ship, the Rainbow Warrior, are currently working with Medecins Sans Frontieres to get urgent medical supplies into Lebanon.
According to MSF:
"To date it has been very difficult to move large volumes of relief goods from Beirut to southern Lebanon by road. Trucks have been hit by missiles, so truck drivers are reluctant to move into the southern region and there are major problems in getting materials to Beirut quickly enough. The Greenpeace offer means a partial solution of one of our two problems."
Life, fishing and hypothermia on the Bering Sea
While the Defending Our Oceans and Defending the Mediterranean expeditions continue in warmer waters, Greenpeace USA is about half way through their own research expedition in the Bearing Sea (off the coast of Alaska). They are looking at how the intensive industrial fishing there is impacting the ecosystem and local fishermen alike.
In one hair raising post they talk about how the locals are being forced to go further and further out to fish - with dangerous results...
"We've been here for a few days now, getting to know the people and the place and sounding out what people think of an ecosystem management based fishery. So far it's clear that it's what people want. I met an old guy the other day who started the conversation by saying "I hope you guys make those draggers go 100 miles offshore." The locals are being forced to go farther and further to get fish while the big factory draggers pillage their traditional waters."
The Esperanza and the Rainbow Warrior
From Elaine on the Esperanza: "It's 5.40 am GST and if you are fast enough you might be able to catch a pretty special moment. We're meeting up with the Rainbow Warrior on its transit accross the Mediterranean."
Meeting the Warrior »
Gavin: The Rainbow Myth »
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