Success!

The ship Ikanu Altamira has turned around and headed back to the United States with its cargo of 40 000 tons of genetically engineered maize.

We had sent a group to meet with the captain of the cargo ship, and videotaped him agreeing to leave Mexico with his cargo. He did not agree to sign an agreement.

It was getting dark as the activists left their perch on the anchor chain. Greenpeace activists had spent twelve hours on the anchor chain, in two shifts. With the activists gone, the anchor was pulled up and the ship sailed out to sea. Three Greenpeace inflatables escorted the ship twelve miles offshore, out of Mexican waters and into international waters.

Truth be told, we don't know where the cargo is going. They have said that it will return to the United States, but some of the crew on board thought they might try to dump the maize in Asia. We will be watching this particular ship over the next weeks.

The crew is tired but happy with our success, both on the Arctic Sunrise and here in the office in Cancun. The Biosafety Protocol went into effect yesterday, giving countries the right to refuse to accept genetically engineered organisms in order to protect their countries biodiversity. Maize is an extremely important crop in Mexico, and this action will help protect the biodiversity of this key crop.