The Rainbow Warrior

 

นางรำพื้นเมืองชาวไทยรำต้อนรับด้านหน้าเรือเรนโบว์ วอร์ริเออร์

When was the original Rainbow Warrior launched?
After Greenpeace volunteers overhauled a battered and rusty 418 tonne trawler known as the Sir William Hardy, the ship was relaunched the Rainbow Warrior in 1978. Its first mission was to campaign against Icelandic whaling.

Why was the ship called the Rainbow Warrior?
The ship was named after a Native American prophecy that inspired early Greenpeace activists.

"There will come a time when the earth is sick and the animals and plants begin to die. Then the Indians will regain their spirit and gather people of all nations, colours and beliefs to join together in the fight to save the Earth: The Rainbow Warriors "

When and why was the original Rainbow Warrior bombed?
On July 10, 1985, the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, was berthed in New Zealand, preparing for a trip to the French nuclear testing zone at Moruroa Atoll. Luckily only a few crew members were on board at 11.38pm when the first bomb exploded. A bomb had ripped a car size hole on the Warrior’s side.

Water poured in and the captain ordered everyone ashore. As photographer Fernando Pereira rushed back to low deck (probably to get his cameras), a second explosion rocked the vessel, drowning him in a rush of water.

It was later discovered that French government agents, under orders to divert Greenpeace from its mission, planted the bombs that sank the Rainbow Warrior and killed Fernando Pereira.

When was the new Rainbow Warrior launched?
The new Rainbow Warrior was launched on 10 July 1989, exactly four years after the attack.

What are the major achievements of Rainbow Warrior?
Arguably, the Rainbow Warrior's greatest moments were in her decades-long struggle to end nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. Despite being rammed, bombed, and subject to every form of intimidation and opposition imaginable, she carries on the fight for a nuclear-free Pacific.

Besides working to end the nuclear threat, Rainbow Warrior endeavors to protect the Pacific and other oceans from over-fishing, toxic pollution, ozone depletion and global warming.