The sea isn’t as flat as Frank had hoped it would be. He can hear waves slapping against the side of the ship, and when he looks over at the oil platform – lit up like a shopping centre – it sometimes disappears behind a swell of water.
Now the crew is making last-minute checks. Phil Ball, who will occupy the pod with the young Argentine Camila Speziale, is patting his chest, yanking karabiners, adjusting his helmet. Have I got everything? Is it in the right place? Is it comfortable? Can I still grab hold of it if there’s a water cannon firing in my face?
At 3.30 a.m., through the porthole, Kieron sees the lip of the sun. Frank asks him if there’s enough light to capture the action.
‘I think so. Just.’
The crew is clustered together in teams, whispering to one another, checking the plan and checking again. ‘Okay,’ Frank announces. ‘Everybody!’ They look up, expectantly. A pause, then, ‘We’re doing it.’
Frank watches the activists blow out their cheeks and shake hands with each other. In front of him, Sini Saarela and Kruso Weber – a Swiss climber – are standing face to face, checking the other’s kit one last time. Frank needs these two to perform today. If they can get up the side of that oil rig and hold their position, this thing might happen. He looks around. The activists are nervous, they’re bouncing on their toes, their eyes are darting around the hold.
The boat drivers creep out onto the deck, using stairs and barrels for cover, thinking, as long as we stay low, as long as we can’t see the coastguard ship, then they can’t see us. Slowly, silently, the first RHIB – called Hurricane – is slipped into the water and moves up to the pilot door. Welshman Anthony Perrett helps the video journalist Kieron Bryan and the climber Kruso Weber to clamber in. Kieron presses ‘record’ and raises his camera, the black inflatable bow of the boat lifts and suddenly they’re tearing around the Sunrise into open water. Ahead of them a spotlight breaks the dawn. The beam is coming from the coastguard ship Ladoga and within seconds it’s sweeping across the rolling water towards them. Now the activists are bathed in blinding light, but they’re still going full tilt, the boat is crunching through the waves. Already they can see the Russians launching their own boats.
A few seconds behind them a second Greenpeace RHIB – Parker – is rounding the bow of the Arctic Sunrise. In that boat are Frank and Sini. From the deck of the Sunrise, the pod – white and blue, built specifically for this moment – is being lowered into the water. Watching through binoculars from the bridge of the Sunrise is Dima Litvinov. He lifts a radio to his mouth and barks, ‘Prirazlomnaya, Prirazlomnaya, this is Arctic Sunrise.’
There’s a crackle of static, then, ‘Arctic Sunrise, this is Prirazlomnaya.’
‘This is a peaceful action, a non-violent protest against oil drilling and the threat that it represents to the Arctic environment and to the climate. There is no risk of damage to your property, we are in unarmed boats, we are not going to attempt to take over your platform. This is a peaceful protest. I repeat, this is a peaceful protest.’
An officer on the Ladoga breaks in. ‘Arctic Sunrise, halt all activity. Raise your boats!’
The Russian RHIBs are in the water now, but the activists’ boats are already pulling up under the platform. It’s huge, 120 metres long on each side. Anthony Perrett stands up in Hurricane and raises a catapult. It’s more than a metre long, with a rubber sling that fires a lead shot attached to a bag of sand that pulls a thin line.
His first shot misses but his second shot arches over three metal bars then slowly slips down as a coastguard RHIB roars through the water towards them. The rope is four metres above his head, now three, he flicks it, it’s nearly there. The Russian boat is close now, they can hear it rounding the corner of the platform. Anthony reaches up and grabs the line, attaches a thicker climbing rope to it and starts pulling on the other end, watching the rope rising higher and higher. He goes to pass it off to Kruso, it’s a metre from the climber’s hand, he’s a second or two from clipping in and starting the climb when the coastguard RHIB tears around the side of the platform, white surf churning from its motor. It ploughs directly into their boat, then a masked Russian commando lunges at the rope with a knife and cuts it clean through.
Out in open water Suzie Q – the biggest of the campaigners’ RHIBs – is towing the pod towards the platform with two smaller boats flanking her. But the pace of the flotilla is painfully slow. The boats are struggling through the water, it’s like they’re stuck in honey, and in the distance they can see a coastguard boat ramming a RHIB below the platform. Then suddenly – thwack! – Suzie Q lurches and a rope whips the water. The line has broken. Phil Ball looks back and stares at the pod, floating forlornly, pathetically unattached.
Silence, a static buzz, then Frank’s voice on the radio. ‘Dump the pod and get here. Now! All boats to the platform. All boats!’
The bow of Suzie Q lifts in the water and a moment later they’re tearing towards the Prirazlomnaya. A few minutes later they’ve joined the action and, through a spray of water, Phil can clearly see two Russian boats carrying soldiers wearing black balaclavas over their faces, bodies camouflaged from top to bottom. Suddenly one of them pulls a knife and lunges at Kieron, trying to grab his camera, but the camera is attached to his chest by a cord. If the guy gets hold of it then Kieron’s going to be pulled out of the boat. The Russian falls short, he leans down and stabs Parker’s rubber inflatable rim, then he reaches for his hip and pulls a gun. He points it at Kieron then swings it round so it’s pointing at the chest of Italian activist Cristian D’Alessandro, who is standing at the bow of Suzie Q. The Russian is screaming something but nobody understands him. Cristian thrusts his arms into the air and shouts, ‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot!’ A wave lifts both boats, their eyes are locked, the barrel of the gun is a metre from Cristian’s chest, both of them are shouting at each other, then the wave dissipates and the boats fall and drift apart. Suzie Q throws up a wall of spray and pulls away with Hurricane just behind her, leaving the Russians in their wake.
Out at sea the pod is being retrieved by the Sunrise, but the activists are still determined to secure a climb team on the side of the platform. If they can get Sini and Kruso onto the rig they can unfurl banners and focus global attention on Gazprom’s plan to drill for oil in the Arctic. They’ve lost the pod, but they can still make their stand.
On the eastern side of the platform Parker pulls up under a mooring line. Sini aims a catapult and fires a rope over it, checks it’s secure, clips in and pulls. But a moment later a Russian boat speeds in, a coastguard officer pulls a knife and in a flash the rope above Sini is cut and she falls into the water. Her life vest inflates with the hissing sound of pressurised air. Frank reaches over the side of Parker and pulls Sini into the boat. She falls back, gasping.