The environmental group Greenpeace’s protests continued at
the oil refinery operated by Preem in Lysekil, Sweden. While the group ended
its blockade of the port, six of its protestors were detained by the Swedish
police yesterday.
The demonstration began on September 10, when Greenpeace
anchored its sailing ship the Rainbow Warrior blocking the entrance to the port
of Brofjorden located in western Sweden on the North Sea. They were seeking to
call attention to an on-going dispute over the proposed expansion of one of
Sweden’s oil refineries. The sailing ship with its launches circling to draw
attention to the protest blocked the crude oil tanker Grena Knutsen from
docking at the refinery and trapping several other tankers in the port.
Continuing to block the port into the weekend, Greenpeace
later moved the Rainbow Warrior out of the entrance channel to the anchorage
outside the port. As the Grena Knutsen attempted to approach the oil refinery
on September 13, Greenpeace again used its launches seeking to block the ship
while six of its activists climbed the cranes used for offloading of crude from
the tanker. The Greenpeace demonstrators unfurled a banner as part of their
protests. The six individuals, who Greenpeace said were all trained climbers
using special safety gear, were later detained by the Swedish police.
Greenpeace highlighted that it had blocked the offloading
and transportation of oil for more than 62 hours. It was part of their
initiative calling on Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and the Swedish
government to stop the planned expansion of the Preem refinery in Lysekil and
abide by the terms of the Paris Agreement designed to fight climate change.
Greenpeace said it had the support of prominent celebrities including pop stars
and actors as well as climate activist Greta Thunberg. Greenpeace contends that
the expansion of the plant would further contribute to hardful emissions tied
to the plant and its oil products.
Operations appear to have resumed at the Preem oil refinery.
The Grena Knutsen docked and later left the refinery for the anchorage outside
the harbor where the Rainbow Warrior also remains.
Preem, the largest oil refiner in Sweden has asked Sweden
for permission to expand the oil refinery and is currently awaiting a decision
from the prime minister. The company previously promised to produce more
biofuels and to use advanced technologies, including carbon capture, to reduce
the impact of emissions linked to the operations.