Greenpeace activists boarded a coal ship heading out of Australian waters in an effort to curb coal exports.
Using inflatable boats from Greenpeace’s ship the Rainbow Warrior, six activists boarded the Korean-owned coal ship MV Meister at dawn on Wednesday and presented a letter to the ship’s captain explaining why they were there. The activists set up camp on the ship’s bow.
“We’ve taken the action today because Australia is on track to almost double its coal exports in the next decade. Both major political parties have no solutions on the table. It is time to slow down the coal boom,” Greenpeace activist Emma Giles told the Guardian from aboard the ship.
“Our leaders are failing us so it’s up to us to take civil disobedience and to slow down and stop these coal ships. We are set to stay here as long as it takes,” she added.
“We are calling on the rest of Australia to take whatever action is possible to ensure that we do not double our coal exports. We cannot deal with the climate change that will result from that,” said a Greenpeace spokesman on the Rainbow Warrior.
The environmental groups claims that planned coal export expansion in Queensland, Australia will further endanger the Great Barrier Reef due to dredging, construction, and more shipping.
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