Arrival Suva

Some small drama this morning. Ship and crew docked at a secure wharf where they cleared customs and immigration, no problem. Then the Rainbow Warrior was supposed move to the more public Narayan wharf for a welcoming ceremony, but it turned out that the water there is too shallow for the RW’s 4.6 meter draft. Reporters and local activists end up at the Greenpeace Fiji office for sandwiches and juice. By the time they’re done snacking a new berth is found next to the naval base, and we all head down there to finally visit the Rainbow Warrior.

Or maybe not. Turns out the ship is in a commercial yard, and there will need to be some more wrangling before any of us will be let in. The yard manager is fine with us visiting as long as we follow the yard’s security procedures, but government officials are still involved.

So we spent some time sitting around the guard shack waiting for things to be resolved (they weren’t), and listening to Pio (ocean’s campaigner) apologize and explain that there are some misunderstandings about the new international security regulations that just entered into force, which is making things difficult (even though the RW is a private/non-commercial vessel and so has an exemption under the rules).

Around 4:00 we were finally cleared. The crew got to meet staff from the Fiji office and local volunteers. It was good for me to see all the crew. Lots of familiar faces, who you’ll get a chance to meet in the coming weeks.