From left: Esben, Jakob, Ida Marie and Fabian with Rainbow Warrior in the background. Greenpeace Denmark activists prepare to carry out an action in the Danish North Sea, to demand an immediate ban on all further oil and gas exploration in Denmark, followed by a complete phase out of domestic fossil fuel production and a massive expansion of clean offshore wind power. Unless the Danish government is brave enough to ban the search for new oil and gas in Denmark, it will never be the green frontrunner it claims to be.

Last week, three fellow activists and I swam 500 meters from the Rainbow Warrior ship to an oil rig in the North Sea to peacefully occupy it for 36 hours.

We did this as a part of a Greenpeace Denmark campaign against the exploration of oil and gas in the North Sea.

Many elements of this action were out of my comfort zone and like nothing I had experienced before: from sailing on the iconic Rainbow Warrior, to swimming long distances in open water, scaling a rig, and spending the night camped out on a helipad high above the sea below. So, agreeing to participate in this peaceful protest against fossil fuels was both exciting and very scary.

Danish activist Ida Marie in the water with hand banner reading "Fossils our our future". Four activists with Greenpeace Denmark have swum from the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior across the Dan oil field in the Danish North Sea and are peacefully occupying the Dan Bravo oil rig to demand an immediate ban on all further oil and gas exploration in Denmark, followed by a complete phase out of domestic fossil fuel production and a massive expansion of clean offshore wind power. Unless the Danish government is brave enough to ban the search for new oil and gas in Denmark, it will never be the green frontrunner it claims to be. The Dan Bravo is the site where Denmark first began extracting oil in 1972. The Danish part of the North Sea now has 55 rigs, whose output makes Denmark the biggest oil producer and the 7th biggest gas producer in the European Union.

Knowing that this was going to be a physical challenge for me, I started training a month before the action. Looking back, I’m really happy I started training this early as it made me feel confident that I would be able to carry out the action.

Going on the Rainbow Warrior felt like walking into the heart of Greenpeace’s history. It was a big honour to meet the badass crew onboard and to explore the ship with its rich history of environmental activism. We only spent a few days on the ship though, because the weather window we needed to be able to swim out into the Danish North Sea and across the Dan oilfield came quickly after we got on board.

The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior III passes in front of the A6-A gas platform.

At the break of dawn on Tuesday morning we were ready to swim from the Rainbow Warrior to the Dan Bravo oil rig, 500 metres away. There is a safety zone around the platform which vessels aren’t allowed to enter, but the regulations do not apply to swimmers in the water, so that’s how we had to get to the rig. The water was incredibly quiet, and the conditions couldn’t have been better. The swim was almost meditative as we slowly approached the platform towering above us, trailing our 40kg bags of food and equipment behind us in the water. 

As soon as we reached the platform, we started to climb up the first ladders. Our bags were incredibly heavy and it took much  longer to climb than we had expected. Fortunately there were no people on the rig trying to block our way, so we could take our time getting up to the helicopter landing pad, where we would set up our camp. Camping on the helipad turned out to be easier than I had expected – at least during the day. Sleeping in the tents at night was a little more scary – I woke up many times throughout the night when a big gust of wind shook my tent. During the day though, I was able to compensate for the lack of sleep with some restful periods under the blue sky. 

While on the rig, the three other activists and I managed to unfurl and secure a giant banner created by the Danish street artist HuskMitNavn, as well as recording videos of thanks in return to the many people who sent us beautiful messages of support from all over the world. 

Four Greenpeace Denmark activists display a 225 square meter banner created especially for this activity by Danish street artist HuskMitNavn. The banner reads “BOILING” and shows a sweating planet. The activists have now kept up their occupation of the helideck of the Dan Bravo oil rig in the Danish part of the North Sea for more than 24 hours. They swam from the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior across the Dan oil field in the Danish North Sea and are peacefully occupying the Dan Bravo oil rig to demand an immediate ban on all further oil and gas exploration in Denmark, followed by a complete phase out of domestic fossil fuel production and a massive expansion of clean offshore wind power. Unless the Danish government is brave enough to ban the search for new oil and gas in Denmark, it will never be the green frontrunner it claims to be.
Project North Sea: Activists Reveal Art Piece Banner by artist HuskMitNavnon Oil Rig in Denmark. © Andrew McConnell / Greenpeace

After 36 hours camped on the helideck in the open North Sea, during which time French oil giant Total had completely shut down oil production from the rig, we received reports of strong weather approaching which could potentially make it unsafe to remain there. We made the decision to swim back again to the ship, from where we were able to return home.

I feel very privileged to be able to participate in this action and to do it with some absolutely amazing people, and I will continue to use my voice to call for a future free from fossil fuels.

Ida Marie is an activist with Greenpeace Denmark

You can add your name in support of a fossil-free #NorthSeaRevolution here: https://act.gp/2BGL7zt