Bearing Witness Greenpeace’s newest Rainbow Warrior continues a rich legacy of promoting environmental awareness.
Sophie Barclay took to the seas on the Rainbow Warrior – the firstever purpose-built environmental campaigning ship – to learn about its history.
Greenpeace was first dreamed up by American draft-evaders and Canadian hippies in late-1960s Vancouver. The movement, now internationally-renowned, has fought tirelessly against American and French nuclear weapons testing, whale and seal hunters, over-fishers and fossil fuel barons for nearly 50 years.
The first Rainbow Warrior was a 418-ton former UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food research trawler. It was built in 1955 and bought by Greenpeace in 1977 for £40,000 (NZ$480,000 today).
The boat’s name comes from a prophecy of the Cree Indian nation. Eyes of Fire, a wise grandmother, spoke of ‘ Warriors of the Rainbow,’ beings belonging to all races, creeds and colours who would band together, learning from indigenous nations how to revere and respect Mother Earth, and fight for the end of her relentless destruction.
In 1985, the Warrior stopped in at Auckland, spearheading an anti-nuclear flotilla protesting the testing on French Polynesia’s Mururoa Atoll. On July 10, French spies bombed a hole the size of a car in the hull, sending water gushing in at six tonnes per second. The attack also claimed the life of Greenpeace’s Portuguese photographer, Fernando Pereira.
The vessel was eventually refloated and towed to her current resting place, 26m down at Matauri Bay. Here she lies, encrusted in seaweed and sponges, a permanent reminder of the country’s resolve to strive for a nuclear- free future.
Greenpeace insisted “you can’t sink a rainbow,” and four years later a new Warrior took to the seas as a retrofitted 44m North Sea trawler – partly purchased with compensation from the French government.
She boasted three 40m masts, hot water and a heating system that recycled waste heat from two new diesel engines, state-of-the-art sewage treatment system, and five portholes (in the living quarters) from the original Warrior.
The boat’s name comes from a prophecy of the Cree Indian nation.
This second Rainbow Warrior survived some legendary adventures. In 1995, at Mururoa again, she tried to enter a restricted area. Three French commandos boarded the vessel and tried to disconnect the bridge. The ship continued to steer by herself.
Unbeknown to the intruders, the crew had built a steering box operated by two joysticks, which the captain, Jon Castle, was controlling, hidden behind a large piece of canvas in the crow’s nest.
The French eventually disrupted Castle’s remote-control system – cutting a hole into the engine-room, smashing the communications system, and slicing through steering cables. The Captain remained hidden in the nest for over 30 hours while Greenpeace activists were detained. When they were asked to give their names, each replied: “Fernando Pereira.”
In 2006, the Warrior sailed the Mediterranean, drawing attention to the overfishing of endangered bluefin tuna. Entering Marseille’s port, she was blockaded by more than 20 huge tuna vessels and showered with eggs, flour, water canons and bags of rubbish. This counter-protest worked in Greenpeace’s favour, drawing huge media interest to the cause.
After 22 years campaigning hard for the environment, the second Rainbow Warrior retired and was succeeded by the current vessel.