Designed as an icebreaker, the Arctic Sunrise has witnessed the wonders of the coldest places on Earth.
The Arctic Sunrise has been part of the Greenpeace fleet since 1995 when she took her first trip to the North Sea to document marine pollution by oil from offshore installations. Since then, she has been all over the planet, including the Congo, the Amazon and most recently to a three-month expedition to the Antarctic to conduct scientific research on biodiversity in the region.
During its colorful history, the Arctic Sunrise and 30 Greenpeace crew members were detained by Russian authorities in 2013, during a peaceful protest that was calling attention to the threat of oil drilling and climate change at Gazprom’s oil rig outside the north polar circle.
After spending two months in prison the crew were released on bail, then finally freed altogether with all charges dropped.
The Arctic Sunrise itself was returned to Greenpeace after nine months at port in Murmansk, having suffered considerable damage during the arrest and detention. A later court case affirmed the right to peaceful protest against oil drilling in the Arctic and the Russian government were ordered to pay damages.