Greenpeace activists board drilling rigs

Greenpeace activists have boarded two offshore drilling rigs in a protest against oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters.

Fifteen activists boarded a rig operated by Norwegian energy company Statoil about 109 miles off the Bear Island nature reserve without encountering any resistance from the onboard crew, a spokesman for Greenpeace said.

Together we can STOP Statoil's Arctic race #OccupyArcticOil #SaveBearIsland http://t.co/LffeTMdpIr pic.twitter.com/XZwhOyeEen

— Greenpeace Esperanza 2000-2022 (@gp_espy) May 27, 2014

Statoil was given the green light to drill in the northern part of the Barents Sea last night. The rig had been on a government-ordered hiatus pending a complaint from Greenpeace.

The environmental group also said 30 activists in the Dutch port of Ijmuiden had boarded a rig contracted by Russia’s Gazprom to drill in the Pechora Sea.

Greenpeace said they were removed after five hours.