COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The Danish government sent a warship to protect two drilling sites off the coast of Greenland from environmental activists, Greenpeace said.
Greenpeace announced Aug. 13 that it launched its vessel Esperanza to oil-rich waters to raise awareness about the need to go beyond oil.
The so-called target list for Greenpeace includes the waters of the Shetland Islands where the group said embattled British oil company BP is looking to expand. A spill there, Greenpeace said, would cause "lasting damage" to whales and other marine life.
Greenpeace said the Danish government deployed the Vaedderen warship to Greenland waters where Cairn Energy was given permission to drill, British newspaper The Independent reports.
Greenpeace said it was warned by the Danish military that the Esperanza would be raided and its captain arrested if it entered a security zone surrounding the drilling sites.
Offshore oil exploration is under scrutiny following the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Greenpeace climate campaigner Leila Deen said in a statement the issue goes beyond that spill as the oil industry has become "desperate, dirty and incredibly dangerous."
"Companies like Cairn need to leave the Arctic alone and start developing the clean tools that will actually help us get off fossil fuels for good," she was quoted as saying.