Danish Navy Ends Greenpeace Arctic Oil Protest

"Danish navy commandos have ended the occupation of an Arctic drilling rig by Greenpeace by breaking into the protesters' survival pod hanging off the drilling platform.

The navy unit broke into the pod just before midnight, four days after the two activists began their occupation of the drilling platform of Leiv Eiriksson, an oil exploration vessel operated by the British firm Cairn Energy.

The arrests of Luke Jones, from Leeds, and Hannah McHardy, from the US, end a 10-day long action by Greenpeace and its protest ship Esperanza against Cairn's drilling operations off Greenland. The activists are now being held and are likely to be deported.

Last year, four Greenpeace protesters occupied another Cairn rig in the same area for about 30 hours after attaching a climbing platform under the structure. That protest was brought to an end by severe weather."

Severin Carrell reports for the Guardian June 2, 2011.