Stena Carron protest in Shetland - Greenpeace Esperanza

[Ghostrider]

The greed of the oil industry nearly destroyed south mainland.

 

Exaggeration quickly comes to mind. The greed of the media for a scandal to sell may have conveyed that impression, but the reality on the ground didn't back it up.

 

Whether the greed of the oil industry caused the incident to occur is eternally debatable. It may well have played its part, but the decision of the Skipper to continue his voyage in to a howling gale and horrendous swell, with steel pipes flying around a deck where his fuel tank vent intakes were located, was questionable at best. And so early in his voyage too. In fact, the decision to store piping of that nature on that deck, especially given that he was undertaking a trans-atlantic voyage in the very worst of winter, is somewhat questionable in itself. Unfortunately the official enquiry, for reason(s) best known to themselves, chose not to pursue these aspects of the incident in any meaningful way.

 

Dodging off the east coast of Shetland or the NE of Scotland should have been reasonably feasible, to allow the piping to either be re-secured or dumped over the side, before taking the heaviest of the weather broadside. If the owner/charterers pressured the Skipper to continue under the threat of implied unemployment, he'd have been wise to risk the implied possible unemployment, as it would have been clear the safety of both vessel and crew were of no great importance to them. If he did not appreciate the potential damage the unsecured pipes could possibly cause to his vessel, and the consequences of such damage, he should already have been unemployed as his competence as a master would have been very open to question.

[Ghostrider]

I don’t deny that Shetlink has its uses. For example, it’s a place where the ignorant, the daft and the downright nasty can vent their spleen without any editorial control (apparently) but also without causing much harm. Normally I ignore the ravings of its more eccentric contributors. However, some of the Shetlink petrolheads’ comments on the Greenpeace protest are getting Shetland a bad name.

 

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2010/09/24/seven-questions-for-chevron

 

given a large quantity of jonathons constituants are involved in the oil and gas industry, i find it ironic how ignorant they will find him whilst reading some of his ill informed and down right stupid questions.

 

having a spare bop stack on board in case the one on the well didnt work would be like having a spare set of wings stashed onboard a plane, when the games up the games up.

 

Clearly he doesn't think many of his constituents post on Shetlink either.

[shetlandpeat]

The devastation is from the pipe lines and the poor folk who tap into them to try to feed, educate and medicate their families.

 

Each year, more oil is spilled from the pipes and pumping stations of the Niger Delta than has been spilled in the Gulf of Mexico during this year’s Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.

 

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluekitabu.org%2FOil%2520Spill%2520Devastation%2520in%2520Africa.doc&rct=j&q=oil%20devastation%20in%20africa&ei=1DudTNDuHJTNjAet7vWXDQ&usg=AFQjCNG6MHbdXcqBtqhrEkIYPrAuk1Z-HQ&sig2=Kw_qxEO7nQYrsx96ypY49g&cad=rja

 

Cannot find the documents for Russia, so I will stand on the Africa bit

[Spinner72]

Careful GR - you're explaining truth and reality to possible supporters of Greenpeace. Who knows what could happen should such things mix

 

Seriously, and thankfully, this idiocy is over, for now. And as I said before, regardless of the "media sensationalism", it is healty to see so many Shetlinkers (and shetlanders in general) show their obvious caring for our islands environment and distaste for being chosen as the playground for such a stupid and childish stunt.

 

Lets hope the next time Greenpeace decide to tell us something bloody obvious in some self servingly illogical way, they remember that some of us have lost family members or people we knew well at sea and know and respect it's dangers on a daily basis.

[shetlandpeat]

There are the issues with salvage I remember, but they may have been resolved. The fact that tankers took a short cut, and so on, you can see that, if the profit or losses was not the driving forces why are there so many near misses.

It was good fortune after the wreck not the actions of the oil industry.

 

Though I do remember the reporter all trying for their ounce of flesh,

[Mattie]

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/chevron-brings-out-legal-guns-bring-down-pod-20100924

Greenpeace has ended the protest due to a court injunction by th oil company Chevron.

Such a shame Shetlinkers..

Who will be cannon fodder tomorrow?

[Mattie]

That is the sickest, most pathetic video which has ever been posted on Shetlink. Do they really think that using a stereotypical druggie in a hoodie is any way to get a message across?

 

Thanks DamnSaxon for pointing out how pathetic these intellectually challenged individuals really are.

Yawn..

That was a great video. Maybe make folk wake up and see what is going wrong with this planet!

Concluding a "child" used by Greenpeace as a druggie in a hoodie..

I don't think so. So absurd.

You need to get out more

[Ghostrider]

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/chevron-brings-out-legal-guns-bring-down-pod-20100924

Greenpeace has ended the protest due to a court injunction by th oil company Chevron.

 

Swallow the propaganda if you like, but its a convenient "out" to a stunt that has attracted laclustre to minimal media coverage, so has passed its sell by date.

 

Call me cynical, but if the sea off the north end of Bressa had been swarming with reporters and camera crews, I'd put money on the fact GP's response would have been very different.

[Guest Anonymous]

I have a question about his whole affair.. It's been bugging me for a while now.

Why was the Carron dragging anchor at sea level anyway? It's not normal procedure to retract anchorage partially.. Is it?

 

Could Greenpeace have been baited into this when Chevron knew they could be legaly evicted?..

Also, If you know the terrorists are going to target you, would it not be better to deal with them before your licence to drill is even issued?

 

Laughable fiasco!

 

Just as well none of our lifeboat boys had to risk their lives picking this flotsam to safety!

[Ghostrider]

^^ You may well not be wrong. If Chevron suspected they were a imminent target, what better they get them over and done with in relative comfort and leisure when and where they're no real nusiance, than have to fend off their antics a hundred miles or so out in the North Atlantic.

 

We will almost certainly never know one way or the other, but if GP were big enough mugs to swallow the bait, it would be the biggest laugh of all.

[engineer21]

with a vessel the size of the SC it will be the masters decicion to have the anchor lowerd so its ready for use should it be required if they where to have a blackout and lose the DP systems can save time deploying the anchor.

ive been on ships where when lying in norway we have lowerd the

anchors to waterline this is masters desicion. after all its his ass on the line

 

i dont think cheveron really care about GP enough to bother trying to lure them in haha!!

 

Deepwater drilling must continue otherwise you all must stop using not only petrol, diesal, kerosene (airplanes) but roads, plastics - tvs, dvds, toys, shoes, clothes in some form or another hydrocarbons are used to make these and many others things we are now realient on

anyone how things we can stop using oil needs to get real.

 

GP do stupid stunts for press! jumping in front of fishing vessels?? safe?? hanging yourself on an anchor which could fail resulting in 3+ dead persons very smart! would love to see there risk assesments and permit to works that they carry out or perhaps they disregard all health and safety??

 

yes i work in the oil industry but i can see the world needs oil anyone that cannot is blind! of course we should try to rely on it less and less but while its there we wont!

[crofter-amy]

yes i work in the oil industry but i can see the world needs oil anyone that cannot is blind! of course we should try to rely on it less and less but while its there we wont!

 

That's the big gripe I have with oil. As long as there is some out there; no matter how environmentally costly it is to get it; reserch into viable alternatives is stifled / suppressed / dissmissed as green wash babble. Oil is only going to get more expencive and scarcer so if GP really want to save the planet why are they not ploughing there funding into alternatives

 

Anyone from GP care to comment

[upmakk]

with a vessel the size of the SC it will be the masters decicion to have the anchor lowerd so its ready for use should it be required if they where to have a blackout and lose the DP systems can save time deploying the anchor.

 

Given how close it is to shore (and that shore currently to leeward), it seemed a very wise precaution.

[Sudden Stop]

Dr Jonathan would be well advised to consider who it is that he's refering to when he whinges about Shetlink contributors. There are quite a few subject matter experts adding their opinion to this thread and probably a good number of his constituants.

 

If he feels that our opinions are casting a poor light on Shetland, he should remember that, as a councillor, he represents Shetlanders and should try to explain to the wider public why it is that Shetlanders are not happy about Greenpeace's actions, not make childish remarks about Shetlink as a whole. Yes, there have been 'over enthusiastic' comments made but it's easy to filter those out with some common sense. There have also been some valuable pieces of infomation shared.

 

Shetland has a long history with the sea and has had more than few tragic stories. Greenpeace have not shown any respect for the weather, the sea, the hard working folks aboard the Stena Carron nor those people who would have to save them when their acts of folly endanger life. The locals are those who 'know best'. If we say that GP are acting foolishly then you better believe that that's probably true.

 

I don't know who Jonathan Wills is trying to impress but he's backing the wrong horse.

[Symbister]

symbister. If GP and Mr Wills had their way there would be no fishing , crofting or salmon farming. All thats left is oil and their not very keen on that either it seems. Other than to use tons of it to power their boats. What would the people of Shetland do without the above mentioned industrys.?

 

I disagree. Our problem, in our sometimes rather parochial Shetland bubble, is too often that we don't realise that the more than averagely well off folk who typically sign standing orders to Greenpeace are precisely the same folk who are interested in buying sustainably-caught fish, or lamb that's been reared without a truckload of chemicals, or visiting a wild and unspoilt environment. And we don't realise that there are millions of them, and that that is our most promising and lucrative market. (Too often, of course, we don't even think about who our customers are, or how we might better meet their aspirations).

 

If we respect our environment (which must be the right thing to do in any case) we'll also be respecting our customers. If we engage in flogging black fish or pouring chemicals into salmon farms, we won't. Greenpeace may get things wrong from time to time - few campaigning organisations don't - but their heart is in the right place. Shetland's producers have a potentially great future, but it won't be improved by attitudes based broadly on sod-the-government and sod-environmentalists.

 

Collectively, we need to get out more.