Greenpeace ship returns from Russia

The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise will be returned from Russia where it has been chained to the docks in Murmansk for several months. The Russian commission has conducted investigations on the vessel. The state of the ship is not clear. 

In September, the ship was seized, crew included, after Greenpeace activists protested against the building of a new oil rig in the North Pole region.

A spokesperson for Greenpeace says that this is a very surprising turn of events. The activist group is happy, but unsure what the reasoning behind the step is.

Greenpeace is now looking at what their next move will be. "We will finally see how the ship is doing after all this time", the spokesperson said. A main concern is the ship's condition. Arctic Sunrise captain Mannes Ubels said shortly after the ship was chained up that the condition of the vessel could deteriorate quickly.

Several months ago, Greenpeace sent a complaint to the Russian investigation committee, saying the process was taking too long. The 30 activists, including campaign leader Faiza Oulahsen, were released in December. Oulahsen is now happy that "the last prisoner, number 31", is now also being released.

The Netherlands enacted the International Law of the Sea Tribunal to free the crew sailing under the Dutch flag. The tribunal set the Netherlands in the right, but the Russians didn't commit to what they would do with the judgement.

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