First, you should know that actress Lucy Lawless’ real name is Lucille Frances Ryan. But, she lived up to the “Lawless” part of her stage name this past week.
Lawless and six members of the environmental organization Greenpeace boarded the drilling ship Noble Discoverer off the western shore of New Zealand last Thursday. The only problem was that Lawless, a New Zealand native, and the Greenpeacers did it illegally.
They boarded the ship, leased to Shell Oil, to protest the drilling. After sneaking on board, they climbed up to the 174-foot drilling tower and displayed a sign which read, “Stop Shell #SaveTheArctic.” Lawless and the others refused to say how they got on board with Lawless saying, “I don’t want to give away any trade secrets.”
Five police officers boarded the ship in the Port of Taranaki after being called. After asking the protesters to leave, Lawless said the group “thanked them for adhering to their protocol,” but peacefully refused to leave until arrest. In fact, Lawless said they told the officer they knew they’d be arrested, but they had to have that happen to send their message to the world.”
Lawless said that she did this to protest oil drilling and to help put focus on climate change issues. She said, “We feel very much that what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic anymore.” Lawless went on to say that any oil spill in the Arctic can never be cleaned up because the area is so remote and because of the freezing temperatures.
The group hunkered down and by Friday, word of their protest had spread across the Internet. Lawless said they have been told they are technically under arrest, but have not been forcefully removed from the ship.
Shell’s New Zealand spokeswoman Shona Geary said the ship chartered by the company was set to leave this past weekend for a drilling program in the Arctic, but all that has been suspended. She added that the company is taking a “very calm and measured approach to this.”
The protesters have said Shell bombarded them with loud screams and sounds over the speaker this weekend in an attempt to get them to leave the ship. Shell had denied the claim, saying the sounds were merely a part of their routine procedures.
The protesters, who have said they wouldn’t make the police scale the tower, are expected to be arrested later today.