Activists block a ship trying to unload Russian coal in Helsinki
Protesters in Helsinki climbed onto the cargo ship’s cranes to prevent it from unloading coal from Russia on Tuesday morning.
Ten activists Greenpeace Finland scaled perimeter fences in the port of Salmisaari, the capital, and attached to cranes by Transbaltic, registered in Malta, which sailed from the Russian port of Luga Monday evening.
“The ship has four cranes that they use for unloading, and we managed to climb over three, so it basically stopped most of the unloading,” says Matti Liimatainen Greenpeace from Finland.
The coal will be delivered to an electricity company owned by the City of Helsinki Helenwho had announced he would do so in March stop importing coal from Russia for use at its power plant in Helsinki – but now it says it respects the treaties is already in place, so this is probably not the final shipment.
“We are responsible for our contractual obligations with Russian coal suppliers until the end of the contracts. Upon expiration of the contracts, the supply of coal from Russia will end,” the company said in a statement.
“My problem is that a month ago, Helen sent out a press release stating that they would no longer buy coal from Russia because of the situation in Ukraine,” says Matti Liimatainen of Greenpeace Finland.
“Somehow I think this is a pretty typical Finnish thing, we are so bureaucratic and so damn honest, if we have an agreement, we should comply with it. Although Russia is a country that does not comply with human rights treaties,” he tells Euronews.
Firefighters removed the protesters from the cranes, and dock workers were able to continue unloading Transbaltic’s coal cargo.
Helsinki police say they have arrested nine people on the pier.