Greenpeace to be fined as Rainbow Warrior damages Philippines coral reef
Enrico Pangan
they're willing to comply with the ruling."
Greenpeace to be fined as Rainbow Warrior damages Philippines coral
reef
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051101/sc_afp/philippinesenvironmentgreenpeaceshipfine_051101024747>
Mon Oct 31, 9:50 PM ET
TUBBATAHA REEFS, Philippines (AFP) - Greenpeace is to be fined after
its flagship Rainbow Warrior II damaged a coral reef in the central
Philippines during a climate change awareness campaign, marine park
rangers said.
The ship and its crew were assessed a 640,000-peso (11,600-dollar) fine
after the 55-meter (180-foot) motor-assisted schooner ran aground at
the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park on Monday, park manager Angelique Songco
told AFP.
The ship's bow sliced through a reef formation measuring 160 square
meters (1,722 square feet), she added.
A Greenpeace official in the Philippines described the incident as
accidental, and said it would comply with the marine park authorities'
ruling.
The Rainbow Warrior II arrived in the reservation in the middle of the
Sulu Sea, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) south of Manila, last
weekend as part of a four-month Asia-Pacific campaign to promote
earth-friendly energy sources, said Greenpeace campaign manager Red
Constantino.
He said the crew made dive sorties to inspect the effect of global
warming on the coral formation, which is listed among the World
Heritage sites of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization.
"The chart indicated we were a mile and a half" from the coral reef
when the ship ran aground, Constantino told AFP. He said the August
2005 navigational map was provided by the mapping office of the
Philippine government.
The ship's own rubber boats safely towed the Rainbow Warrior II into
deeper water, and it escaped serious damage, an AFP photographer aboard
the ship said.
Constantino said the ship was now heading back to the Puerto Princesa
on the western island of Palawan to file an incident report with the
marine park office.
Originally built in Britain in 1957 as a steam-powered fishing vessel,
the Rainbow Warrior II replaced its namesake that was sunk by French
agents in 1985 in Auckland harbor on its way to Moruroa Atoll to block
a French nuclear test.
One crew member drowned and two French secret service agents were later
jailed after pleading guilty to charges of manslaughter and wilful
damage.
Constantino said that Greenpeace divers on the Tubbataha expedition had
found that healthy coral and no evidence of bleaching, believed to be
caused by warming sea temperatures.
Constantino said the healthy state of the Tubbataha Reefs did not
disprove the theory of global warming, which he described as an
"extremely complicated science."