Greenpeace Commits Act of Piracy in Oil Dispute

Greenpeace storms Oil Rig

Piracy is typically an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator (e.g. one passenger stealing from others on the same vessel).

Greenpeace have stormed an oil rig being towed to Seattle.

According to The Guardian;

Six Greenpeace activists protesting Arctic offshore drilling on Monday boarded a drill rig as it was transported across the Pacific Ocean toward Seattle, where it will be staged for drilling on Shell leases in Alaska waters.
The 400ft (122 meter) Polar Pioneer, owned by Transocean Ltd, was on board a heavy-lift vessel about 750 miles (1,206 km) northwest of Hawaii when the activists approached in inflatable boats and used climbing gear to get on board, Greenpeace spokesman Travis Nichols said.
They plan to unfurl a banner in protest of Arctic offshore drilling but have no plans to interfere with the ship’s navigations, he said.

Just boarding the Pioneer against the wishes of it's owners and crew was an act of piracy. Just calling it a protest doesn't change the nature of the act.

Shell USA spokeswoman Kelly Op De Weegh said by email that Greenpeace protesters illegally boarded the vessel, called the Blue Marlin, jeopardising their safety and that of the crew.

Greenpeace appear to have stepped up activity against arctic petroleum interests recently, with an attempt on 25th March this year to board a Russian oil tanker Mikhail Ulyanov, while it was docked in Hamburg. This is not the first time Greenpeace have targeted the Mikhail Ulyanov – Greenpeace also targeted the tanker in May 2014, while it was delivering oil to Rotterdam.

Greenpeace seem happy to conduct protests against all parties operating in the Arctic, including Russian businesses – though so far Greenpeace appear to be avoiding Russian controlled territory, presumably to prevent a repeat of the 2013 Arctic Sunrise fiasco.

There's a reason they touch Russia with kid gloves, other than the fact that they're lefties, and still have a soft spot in their heart for the old Soviet Union. The Russians do not suffer interference well, and are all about capturing occupiers putting them in jail, and making them sweat a bit before releasing them (what they did in the Mikhail Ulyanov incident).

It would be more instructive if they bought out the cannons and gave them a broadside of chains, broken glass and cutlery and cleared the decks.