Noble Discoverer: injunction issues against Greenpeace

On March 28 Judge Sharon Gleason in the federal District Court in Alaska issued a preliminary injunction banning activist organization Greenpeace from occupying any of a list of 19 vessels that Shell plans to use for exploratory drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas during this year’s open water season. The list of vessels includes the drillship Noble Discover, the floating drilling platform the Kulluk, anchor handlers, icebreakers and oil spill response vessels, with the ban continuing until Oct. 31and applying while the vessels are in U.S. waters and ports.
In February Shell asked the District Court to issue a restraining order against Greenpeace, which has already protested against the company’s Arctic drilling plans by occupying the Noble Discoverer in New Zealand and by occupying two icebreakers in Finland that had been contracted for Shell’s operations. Gleason responded by issuing a temporary restraining order, banning Greenpeace from trespassing on Shell’s drilling vessels. The injunction issued March 28 supersedes that restraining order.
Among the claims still to be ruled on is a question of District Court jurisdiction over activities in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ, where Shell will be drilling, as distinct from U.S. territorial waters and harbors. Gleason says that the court will rule on this question before Shell’s vessels start to operate in the EEZ. Similarly the court will rule in due course on a question of court jurisdiction over activities at aviation facilities in the northern Alaska town of Barrow, where Shell will presumably base the aviation operations in support of its drilling fleet.

The decision to move forward on oil drilling in the Beaufort Sea, which would occur just north of the western edge of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), comes shortly after the Obama Administration also opened up drilling in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea, allowing oil exploitation in the Arctic for the first time since the 1990s.

Spokesperson for Royal Dutch Shell, Kelly op de Weegh, dubbed the approval, “another major milestone achieved.”

Greenpeace activists who illegally boarded the drill ship Noble Discoverer at Port Taranaki have again had their day in court postponed.

The eight, which includes actress Lucy Lawless who was charged under her married name Lucy Tapert, each face one charge of burglary were remanded to reappear in the New Plymouth District Court on April 18.

None of the accused appeared in the New Plymouth District Court today.

Those charged are: Tapert aka Lawless, Llai Amir, 25 (Israel, living in Auckland), Jan Raoni Hammer, 30 (Christchurch), Zachary Steven Penman, 21 (Auckland), Vivienne Rachael Hadlow, 28 (United Kingdom, living in Auckland), Shayne Panayiotis Comino, 33 (Australia, living in Christchurch), Michael Ross Buchanan, 28, Christchurch, Shai Sebastian Naides, 28 (Israel, living in Wellington).

Rena: Captain Mauro Balomanga pleads guilty

The captain and second officer of a cargo ship that ran aground on a New Zealand reef last year have pleaded guilty to mishandling the ship and trying to cover up their responsibility for the environmental disaster.
The unidentified suspects, both Philippine nationals, were in charge of the Liberian-flagged Rena when it tore into a reef in the North Island's pristine Bay of Plenty October 5, 2011.
The wreck dumped 400 tons of fuel oil and killed thousands of fish and seabirds. New Zealand authorities call it the country's worst maritime disaster.
Both defendants pleaded guilty February 29 of charges of operating the ship in a dangerous manner and altering ship documents. They also pleaded guilty to discharging dangerous substances.
They will be sentenced on May 25 when the court will publicly identify the suspects.

Earlier, Captain Mauro Balomanga and second officer of the wrecked cargo ship Rena were set to appear in the Tauranga District Court facing a number of charges relating to the disaster.
The 44-year-old captain and navigation officer, 37, both Filipinos, face charges they "wilfully attempted to pervert the course of justice" by altering the ship's document after the grounding.
The captain faces four charges and the second officer three charges.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.
The charges were laid under the Crimes Act
They have also been charged with offences under the Maritime Transport Act and Resource Management Act - where the heaviest penalties are two years' prison and a $300,000 fine.
They are due to appear in court on February 29.
The container ship ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, off the coast of Mt Maunganui, last October 5.Seventy-one containers were recovered this week, bringing the total to 625. Another 17 containers have been located but are yet to be recovered.

Rena: Costamare boxship away off Astrolabe Reef

An investigation into the grounding and breaking up of the Rena, a Liberian-flagged ship owned by the Greek shipping firm Costamare, is ongoing. The ship's captain and navigation officer, both Philippine nationals, will next month face criminal charges relating to operating a vessel in a dangerous manner and allowing the release of toxic materials.

Rena: NZ charges officers with perverting justice

Both men, who have name suppression, appeared in Tauranga District Court today and faced a new charge alleging they altered the ship's documents after it crashed into the Astrolabe reef, attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The charges were laid under the Crimes Act and could see the men facing jail time.

Corrupting juries and witnesses
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who—
(a) dissuades or attempts to dissuade a person, by threats, bribes, or other corrupt means, from giving evidence in any cause or matter (whether civil or criminal, and whether tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction); or
(b) influences or attempts to influence, by threats or bribes or other corrupt means, a member of a jury in his or her conduct as such (whether in a cause or matter tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction, and whether the member has been sworn as a member of a particular jury or not); or
(c) accepts any bribe or other corrupt consideration to abstain from giving evidence (whether in a cause or matter tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction); or
(d) accepts any bribe or other corrupt consideration on account of his or her conduct as a member of a jury (whether in a cause or matter tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction, and whether the member has been sworn as a member of a particular jury or not); or
(e) wilfully attempts in any other way to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice in New Zealand or the course of justice in an overseas jurisdiction.

Both were remanded at large to reappear in Tauranga District Court on February 29.

Rena: 115 containers still on board

The daily media conference for the Rena disaster finished Dec 1 and will become a weekly conference unless the situation changes. There are 1115 containers still on board
"We are now soliciting support from various sectors of the [Filipino] society, especially the maritime industry, to join us in lodging a nation-wide protest action to prevent Capt. Balomanga and his watch officer from being incarcerated. 12 months imprisonment should not be a penalty for a navigational error.' here

Rena: 20-minute window to change course

The ship would have travelled in a straight line for up to 20 minutes before it struck the Astrolabe Reef off the Bay of Plenty coast at about 2.20am on 5 October. and it is a mystery why evasive action wasn't taken.
Decoded transmissions sent by the ship show the vessel took a managed, deliberate turn without on-board navigational charts having been checked. Rena's navigators only used radar recognition of land, and possibly the port entrance beacon to find their way.

Reports that the Rena is breaking up are incorrect. Salvage experts advise that while the Rena is cracked port and starboard, it remains together in one piece and is in the same position as it has been for the past week.

MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Andrew Berry (who today replaces Bruce Anderson as part of a shift rotation) says oil pumping operations are progressing. A booster pump is now in place, which is hoped to begin operation soon.

"All going well."
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