Posted by jamess — 26 October 2010 at 3:41pm
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One of Cairn's tugs, towing an iceberg out the way of its Arctic oil rig
Bing. Email received. Cairn Energy sent its “Greenland Operational Update” this morning at 7.05am with news to investors of its Arctic drilling. Despite its best efforts to put a positive spin on the news, the important words stood out:
“Plugged”, and “abandoned” for its first two drill sites. “Primary objectives were not reached” for number three, with “further re-entry work depending on the results of further evaluation”.
The media were more blunt, with headlines saying “Cairn Energy fails in Arctic oil drilling”.
Posted by jamess — 4 October 2010 at 1:34pm
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Scrubbing the toilets this morning a bizarre thought crossed my mind: I’m going to miss this. The squeaky whiteboard, with our names for the 8am cleaning rota, reads: Messroom/Leila, Lounge/Frank, Showers/Victor, Alleyways/Elena, Laundry/Ben and Toilets … James.
A strange thing to miss perhaps, cleaning the ‘heads’ – my ship lingo is rapidly expanding – but it’s another part of the daily routine that has defined the communal life on board our floating Esperanza.
This is a working ship and everyone is busy pretty much all the time. Whether it’s in the engine room, the galley, the fitter’s workshop, the Radio Operator’s room, up on the bridge or out on deck, there are always things to do, just to keep a ship going.
Posted by lisavickers — 2 September 2010 at 7:44am
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Picture of Sim yesterday morning on the rig
It’s five in the morning Greenland time and the last few hours have been quite insane. Last night, with the Espy pitching and rocking, and cups flying all over the place, we knew we had to get Timo, Meteusz, Sim and Jens off the rig. The worst of the Arctic weather was closing in, and their tiny tents were not going to be enough to keep them safe.
Our friends had to climb up onto the rig. Due to the strong winds it took them a bit more than four hours to get up there, and when they did they were met by police and taken peacefully into custody.
Posted by jamess — 1 September 2010 at 5:46pm
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Watch Sim talk about his "relatively comfortable" night dangling off the underside of Cairn's Stena Don rig. Our four climbers are still on Cairn's rig, stopping the company from continuing its dangerous drilling in Arctic waters.
Posted by jamess — 1 September 2010 at 10:04am
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Our four climbers have spent the night in sub-zero temperatures, hanging off the bottom of Cairn's Arctic oil rig - the Stena Don. While we're attached to the rig, Cairn Energy can't continue their reckless drilling.
Posted by jamess — 31 August 2010 at 9:38am
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From Leila, campaigner on board the Esperanza...
Dear Mr Bill Gammell,
I am writing to you from the bridge of the Esperanza. My friends are currently hanging in tents under the Stena Don oil rig that you are using to search for the last drops of oil here at the end of the Earth. We want to stop you from drilling here. I thought it appropriate to write to you, to back up our action with another letter, asking you again to please rethink your current plans.
Yesterday, I sat under an iceberg that had just been released by your tug-ships. They had been towing it out of the path of your oil rigs up here in the Arctic. Next to our inflatable boat, a seal popped his head up to get a look at us. As we floated there huge chunks of ice sheared from the side of the iceberg. It frightened me. It echoed the fate of our planet as it melted and crashed into the ocean.
