Arctic Sunrise
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|
| History | |
|---|---|
 Norway
|
|
| Name: | Polarbjørn |
| Owner: | GC Rieber Shipping |
| Port of registry: | Ålesund |
| Builder: | Vaagen Verft, Kyrksæterøra, Norway |
| Yard number: | 39 |
| Completed: | 18 January 1975 |
| Fate: | Sold in 1995 to Greenpeace |
 Netherlands
|
|
| Name: | Arctic Sunrise |
| Owner: | Stichting Phoenix |
| Operator: | Stichting Greenpeace Council |
| Port of registry: | Amsterdam |
| Identification: | Call sign: PE6851 IMO number: 7382902 |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 949 GT 353 NT 610 DWT |
| Displacement: | 1,478 tonnes |
| Length: | 49.5 m (162 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.55 m (37.9 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.32 m (17.5 ft) |
| Ice class: | DNV Icebreaker (maximum draught 4.7 m) |
| Installed power: | MaK 9M452AK (1,619 kW) |
| Propulsion: | Single shaft; controllable-pitch propeller Two thrusters (400 hp each) |
| Speed: | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Crew: | 16 |
Arctic Sunrise is an ice-strengthened vessel operated by Greenpeace. The vessel was built in 1975 and has a gross tonnage of 949, a length of 50.5 metres (166 ft) and a maximum speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). She is classified by Det Norske Veritas as a "1A1 icebreaker" (the second highest ice strengthening notation at the time of construction).
Under the original name of Polarbjørn ("polar bear"), she was used as a sealing ship. The vessel was subsequently used by the French government. Greenpeace purchased the ship in 1995. When Greenpeace approached the previous (Norwegian) owners, they said they would not sell the vessel to Greenpeace. Greenpeace responded by forming a "shell company" called Arctic Sunrise Ventures Ltd, to subvert the previous owner's sale restrictions.
Arctic Sunrise has been involved in various campaigns including anti-whaling campaigns in the Southern Ocean. She is registered as a Motor Yacht (MY).
In January 2006 Arctic Sunrise and Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling ship, collided. Both ships suffered minor damage.
In June 2006, Arctic Sunrise was banned from attending the 58th International Whaling Commission meeting in St. Kitts by the St. Kitts and Nevis Government citing national security concerns. Greenpeace's protests were discussed at the same IWC meeting with agenda item IWC/58/3, relating to their protest actions against Japanese whaling in the Southern ocean in December 2005 / January 2006, during which a Japanese whaling ship and a Greenpeace ship collided, resulting in this resolution from the IWC.
On 30 August 2007, Arctic Sunrise was involved in a protest against the Canadian laker Algomarine off of Nanticoke, Ontario where she was attempting to enter harbor with a load of coal for the power station. A RHIB came alongside and activists painted the hull of the laker with "No Coal. No Nuclear. Clean Energy." Two activists then boarded Algomarine and chained themselves to the self-unloading boom. A third activist suspended herself with a climbing harness from the rudder of Algomarine, effectively halting it. The Canadian Coast Guard was called in to remove the protesters.
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Wikipedia