A Greenpeace activist from Ayrshire boarded a Shell-contracted ship in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday with a banner bearing the message: “Stop Drilling. Start Paying.”
Imogen Michel, who lives near Girvan, is one of four activists who staged the protest aboard the White Marlin vessel in the Atlantic Ocean- just north of the Canary Islands.
Tuesday’s protest was staged just 48 hours ahead of oil giant Shell’s profit announcement and designed to shine a light on the company’s environmental record.
Imogen, who describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a “rope access technician,” “aerial performance rigger” and "freelancer" for Greenpeace UK - as the head of the climb team - was joined on the Shell-contracted vessel by fellow activists, Carlos Marcelo Bariggi Amara, from Argentina; Yakup Çetinkaya, from Turkey and Usnea Granger from the US, occupying the ship’s cargo- a huge Shell oil and gas platform.
Speaking to the BBC last night, Imogen said: “There’s a team of four of us and we have come onto the oil platform because we are asking Shell to stop investing their huge profits in drilling for yet more oil and instead, start paying out to the communities and the countries who are being most affected by climate change.
“We want Shell to stop drilling and to start paying up.”
Imogen and her team managed to get aboard the vessel after being transferred from Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, to an inflatable rib.
The team then crossed the sea before coming alongside their target vessel, then climbed up to the giant oil platform, using ropes.
They claim the platform, which is destined for the North Sea, is going to be used over the next two decades to drill the equivalent of 100,000,000 barrels of oil which they say is “fuelling climate change.”
Imogen said: “I totally understands the debate and feelings people have. North Sea oil has been important, but we recognise climate change is happening and it’s causing huge calamities to countries that have contributed least to the climate crisis and that’s a great injustice."
She added: “We are prepared to stay here for as long as it takes. “
A Shell spokesperson said the actions of the activists had caused “real safety concerns.”
They also said: “We respect everyone’s right to express their point of view and it is essential they do that with their safety and that of the others, in mind.
“This is not for a new field, but one which has already producing oil and gas for 20 years.
“We plan to invest £25 billion in the UK energy system over the next decade. More than 75 per cent of that is intended for zero carbon technology including offshore wind, hydrogren and electric mobility.”
The platform is a key piece of production equipment that will enable Shell to unlock eight new wells in the Penguins North Sea oil and gas field.
The protestors are carrying enough supplies to occupy the platform for days.
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