Later, they commandeered the Arctic Sunrise and towed it to the Russian port of Murmansk. Russian security forces initially detained the two activists who had climbed onto the oil rig. Greenpeace activists could be seen holding their hands up in the air as a Russian officer aimed his pistol at them. Greenpeace disputes Russia’s claim it found drugs on shipĪt one point, someone from above fired a series of shots into the water that struck perilously close to Greenpeace boats and Russian security rafts. Two other inflatable rafts from Greenpeace bobbed near by, periodically being drenched by water cannons fired from the oil platform.

One Russian officer seized the rope an activist was using to try to climb the looming walls of the platform. Two inflatable rafts operated by mask-wearing Russian security forces approached the platform. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation later released an unedited video showing the tense stand-off that ensued. They were planning to protest against Gazprom’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean. On September 18, two Greenpeace activists from the Arctic Sunrise attempted to scale an oil rig operated by the Russian energy Gazprom. The 30 detainees include volunteers and crew members from South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand as well as a Russian freelance photographer and ship cooks from Turkey and Ukraine. Willcox, a native of Norwalk, Connecticut, is the sole American citizen in a group of activists Greenpeace is now calling the “Arctic 30.” “He’s a very sweet, sweet man, and yet he’s this stalwart person in the face of any kind of crisis like what’s going on now,” said the newlywed.

She married Willcox, the captain of the Arctic Sunrise, in February after the two had been friends for decades. “The activists have found themselves embroiled in something that has larger implications,” added Maggy Willcox.

Greenpeace Captain by Peter Willcox