LONDON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Environmental activists attached themselves to the anchor of an oil drilling ship, stopping it from heading to the Shetland Islands, Greenpeace said.
Activists with Greenpeace attached themselves to Chevron's oil drilling ship Stena Carron to prevent the U.S. supermajor from drilling in the deep waters near the Shetland Islands.
"They are preventing the anchor from being pulled up and effectively blocking the ship from moving to its drill site," the group said in a statement. "We are calling on North Sea governments to adopt a ban on all deep-water drilling."
Shetland waters are believed to hold more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. British oil company BP has three oil and gas fields in the area and announced plans in July to drill in the deep waters in the region south of the Chevron site.
Deep-water exploration is being scrutinized after the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico failed in April, leading to the worst accidental oil spill in the history of the industry.
Greenland police in early September arrested four Greenpeace activists who rigged mountaineering platforms to the bottom of an oil rig operated by Cairn Energy in the arctic waters off the coast of Greenland.
It took rescuers four hours to rescue the activists after severe winds and 18-foot waves pounded the platform.
Greenpeace said the pristine arctic waters would be spoiled by an "oil rush" in the region.
