COCO

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Geenpeace ended protest after 11 days

On Dec 5 Greenpeace activists have ended the protest on the 'Coco' in the Pacific Ocean after 11 days. Activists had protested in canoes and inflatable boats around the ship, and another five climbers boarded the ship for five days. The Canadian company The Metals Company (TMC) wants to promote deep-sea mining. The activists were demanding that The Metals Company abandon its plan. The vessel was chartered by NORI, a subsidiary of Canadian mining company The Metals Company. She is currently collecting data so that the Metals Company can submit the world's first application to mine manganese nodules from the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean. NORI, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Metals Company (TMC), wanted to stop the Greenpeace protest against deep-sea mining with an injunction. However, a Dutch court largely rejected the application. According to the ruling, the Greenpeace activists will leave the 'Coco' and continue the protest. The court rejected the demand that Greenpeace activists were only allowed to approach the ship within 500 meters. Since Greenpeace International is based in the Netherlands, the hearing was carried out in a Dutch court. After five days of protesting with kayaks around the deep-sea mining ship, the Greenpeace activists occupied the ship's crane for another five days. They unfurled a banner demanding “Stop deep sea mining”. The activists had set off from the 'Arctic Sunrise' around 1,500 kilometers from the coast of Mexico. Report with photos: https://www.greenpeace.de/biodiversitaet/meere/meeresschutz/greenpeace-international-protestiert-elf-tage-tiefseebergbau

Greenpeace activists boarded drilling ship

Activists from Greenpeace International have boarded the Coco' on Nov 25, 2023, which is conducting deep sea mining research in the Pacific Ocean, vowing to occupy the vessel until it abandons the expedition. The confrontation unfolding on the high seas comes as the expedition’s backer, The Metals Company (TMC), prepares to apply to become the first venture licensed to conduct deep sea mining in international waters. TMC has said it will submit its application after a July 2024 meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the United Nations-affiliated organization that regulates deep sea mining. Greenpeace began the protest by positioning kayaks beneath the ship for up to 10 hours at a time to block it from deploying equipment to the water. In response, the company's CEO Gerard Barron threatened an injunction in the afternoon of Nov 25, alleging protesters broke international law and jeopardized the safety of crew members. During the protest one kayak was capsized by propeller wash when the 'Coco' accelerated without warning, Greenpeace claimsed. Legal representatives from The Metals Company's subsidiary NORI said this was an example of how the protest was not safe. No injunction has been filed yet, according to Greenpeace. The company said it would use all legal measures available to protect stakeholders' rights. Later that day, two activists boarded the 'Coco', intending to remain camped on the main crane used to deploy and retrieve equipment from the water until The Metals Company agrees to leave, according to Louisa Casson, head of Greenpeace's campaign against deep-sea mining. A subsidiary of The Metals Company has been conducting exploratory research in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since 2011. They say data from their latest expedition, researching how the seabed recovered from exploration last year, will be used in an application to begin mining in 2025.Greenpeace's "actions to stop the science suggest a fear that emerging scientific findings might challenge their misleading narrative about the environmental impacts." If research were to show their mining would be unjustifiably destructive The Metals Company would be "100%" prepared to withdraw. Report with photo: https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2023-11-27/environmental-protesters-board-deep-sea-mining-ship-between-hawaii-and-mexico