PHOTOS: Sergio Betancort
About 1,900 people have come these days to visit the Arctic Sunrise ship, from Greenpeace, docked in the port of Los Mármoles. On Saturday, Sunday and this Monday, the NGO has organized open days so that residents of Lanzarote can enjoy a free guided tour of this ship and to raise awareness against oil exploration in the Canary Islands. The ship will remain open until 7:00 p.m. and then depart for Fuerteventura.
The Arctic Sunrise was ironically a seal fishing vessel. Greenpeace bought it under a false name because the previous owners would never have sold it to them and with it they have tried to balance the scales, initiating campaigns against oil installations, among others. The ship became very famous after it was boarded in 2013 by Russian authorities, who arrested its 30 crew members, a day after the environmentalists tried to board an oil platform in the Arctic.
On the ship, you can even see the mark of the kick that a Russian gave to one of the doors. And Greenpeace wanted to record this boarding and has framed this kick with a glass, so that everyone who gets on the Arctic Sunrise understands what happened in the Arctic.
Complaint to the European Commission
This Monday, Greenpeace has offered a press conference, in which it has announced the Arctic Sunrise, and has joined the outcry against oil exploration in the Canary Islands, asking that Repsol's project be stopped. In this sense, it has announced the presentation of a complaint before the European Commission in which it denounces the Government of Spain for failing to comply with Community law on the protection of the Site of Community Interest (SCI) of Lanzarote-Fuerteventura.
Among the various "irregularities" of the procedure, Greenpeace denounces how the State "has intentionally delayed the declaration of this protected area to favor the interests of the multinational Repsol." "This has caused serious procedural errors in the processing of the permit granted by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism to the oil company," they have pointed out.
The organization has insisted that among the procedural "errors" is the "incorrect and even non-existent" application of scientific recommendations. In this sense, it has pointed out that in terms of noise effects in drilling operations, Repsol "has underestimated the levels at which these can cause damage to cetaceans, since they have used records from more than 27 years ago, standards that are currently highly questioned by science."
Another of the irregularities that Greenpeace mentions is the "intentional" reduction of the area of the SCI, at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, which has allowed Repsol "to drill a few kilometers from the protected area." "This valuable protected area is only 11 kilometers from one of the points where Repsol intends to look for oil and is home to more than a third of the types of cetaceans that exist on the planet and other endangered species, such as the loggerhead turtle. In addition, it is one of the five places in the world where the waters of the oceans are loaded with oxygen and nutrients, a phenomenon known as upwelling," the NGO insisted.
"Disinformation" campaign
In addition to these irregularities, Greenpeace denounces the "disinformation campaign" that the multinational is carrying out, "with the help of the Government". In this sense, it places special emphasis on the "falsification" of figures on job creation, since it was announced that some 52,000 jobs would be generated when in the 30 countries where it currently operates "it has less than 25,000 workers hired."
Greenpeace has also highlighted the company's "polluting history", with "nearly 6,900 spills in just four years worldwide, according to data from the multinational itself." "Only in Spain between 2001 and 2013, in its facilities in Tarragona, it has had 16 episodes of spills and polluting spills into the waters," he insisted.
In addition, the NGO considers that the "manipulated" information that Morocco has found oil just off the coast of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura is also a "threat". "Morocco explores its continental shelf and not the ultra-deep waters where Repsol has permission. But in the event of an accident, the risk of environmental disaster is common to Spain and Morocco. For this reason, neither of the two countries should embark on this oil adventure," Greenpeace has defended.
During the Greenpeace press conference, the serious
social, economic and environmental consequences of the project were also highlighted.