Greenpeace blocks ExxonMobil rig at Norwegian port of Olen (photo)

Greenpeace climbers scaled an ExxonMobil rig destined to drill in the Russian Arctic, Greenpeace informs.  Fourteen activists from seven different countries took part in the protest in Norway, where five of them scaled the West Alpha oilrig and unfurled a banner saying: “No Exxon Valdez in Russian Arctic”. 

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef  and spilled at least 250,000 barrels of crude oil.  Only 7% of spilt oil was collected.

ExxonMobil is the world’s largest oil company and has a multi-billion dollar joint venture with Russia’s Rosneft to explore for oil in the Kara Sea, a project that will start this summer.

Earlier, 30 crewmembers of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise (registered in Amsterdam) were accused of attacking oil platform Prirazlomnaya. The Greenpeace activists said it was a protest against oil extraction in the Arctic.