Rotterdam police have taken action against the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior III during protests about the arrival of a Russian tanker carrying Arctic oil.

Greenpeace was trying to stop the tanker docking in Rotterdam to unload its cargo of 550,000 barrels of oil extracted from deep beneath the Arctic Sea. The ship arrived in Rotterdam port around 08.30 hours.

According to a Greenpeace spokesman on Nos radio, the Rainbow Warrior has been towed away. Other reports say at least one Greenpeace campaigner was arrested.

Drilling

Russia last year seized another Greenpeace ship and arrested its 30-strong crew during protests about the drilling in the Arctic.

Greenpeace is based in the Netherlands and two of the crew were Dutch. They were arrested on piracy charges after attempting to stop the drilling but released under a political amnesty.

Rotterdam port is one of Europe’s biggest crude oil importers, around one-third of which comes from Russia, Nos television said.