With the United Nations Climate Summit coming closer, the Greenpeace activists have increased their protest against the usage of fossil fuels. Now for the third time this month, they have disrupted the natural gas operations in Europe. On 26 October, activists from Greenpeace blocked the Enagas gas terminal in Valencia, Spain.
¿Te has perdido nuestra protesta de hoy contra el gas fósil?
Hemos bloqueado la entrada del gasero Merchant en la regasificadora de Sagunto.
El gas está empobreciendo a los hogares, lucrando a empresas especuladoras y contribuyendo al calentamiento global. pic.twitter.com/kpK4mjGiFp— Greenpeace España (@greenpeace_esp) October 26, 2021
Greenpeace’s largest vessel ESPERANZA, anchored mid-morning off the port of Sagunto. The 2000 gross tonnage ESPERANZA was positioned to block the entrance of the gas facility to eventually disrupt the arrival of a gas carrier from the United States. A 75,000 DWT gas carrier called BRITISH MERCHANT loaded with 178,000 cm of liquefied gas had arrived from Texas, United States. Greenpeace said that the gas was extracted through the controversial fracking process. Protestors launched zodiacs with banners and sought to disrupt the operations further. The tanker stayed outside the harbor during the protest and at one point the protestors went close to the gas carrier and managed to paint “NO GAS” on the hull of the vessel.
??ACTUALIZACIÓN??
No tenemos noticias del interior del barco.
Desde fuera, nuestro activista escalador lleva 8 horas encaramado en el ancla. pic.twitter.com/WXqeIaQZ38
— Greenpeace España (@greenpeace_esp) October 26, 2021
Tatiana Nuno, Climate Change Campaign head at Greenpeace said that time has come for Enagas and others in the gas sector to realize and make real commitments towards the fight against energy transition and climate change and stop the promotion of dubious solutions with green advertising. Nuno added that energy giants like Shell, Repsol, or Naturgy put millions in advertising to convince us that harmful fossil fuels such as gas could be a solution to climate change which needs to be stopped.
The protest vessel remained anchored till evening and then Valencia Port Authority stepped in. The port authority said that they respected the rights of the protestors but the area needs to be cleared now. At the port authority’s request, the Civil Guard took action and boarded the protest vessel, ESPERANZA. The Greenpeace vessel was cleared off the way and the gas carrier finally proceeded to the terminal. Greenpeace later reported that none of its crew were harmed as they had surrendered the control of the vessel to the Civil Guard.
