Oil giant Shell suing Greenpeace for £1.7m damages

Shell is suing Greenpeace for $2.1m (£1.7m) in damages after environmental protesters occupied a vessel transporting one of the oil company's floating platforms earlier this year.

Activists boarded the White Marlin ship north of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic in January.

Shell said it was entitled to recover "the significant costs of responding to Greenpeace's dangerous actions".

However, Greenpeace said it planned to contest the action.

The environmental group described it as "one of the biggest legal threats" in its history.

The White Marlin was transporting the platform to Shell's Penguins oilfield in the North Sea when it was occupied.

The Penguins field, which was discovered in 1974, is about 150 miles (241km) north east of Shetland.

Activists campaigning against fossil fuels and oil drilling used inflatable boats to reach the Shell-contracted ship, before hoisting themselves onto it with ropes.

They remained on board for 13 days until the ship reached Norway.

At the time Shell was granted an injunction to prevent more activists boarding. Now court papers show it is seeking damages from Greenpeace.

A Shell statement said: "The right to protest is fundamental and we respect it absolutely. But it must be done safely and lawfully.

"The legal costs to secure two court injunctions to prevent further boarding were significant. So were the costs for the companies who had to deal with the action at sea, for example by mobilising an extra safety vessel, and increasing security at the port.

"The safety of the protesters - as well as the crew - was paramount. Rightly, we did not hesitate to put in place measures to protect all people involved.

"Shell and its contractors are entitled to recover the significant costs of responding to Greenpeace's dangerous actions."

Greenpeace said: "The claim is one of the biggest legal threats against the Greenpeace network's ability to campaign in the organisation's more than 50-year history."

The group said Shell offered to reduce its damage claim to $1.4m (£1.14m) if Greenpeace's activists agreed not to protest again at any of Shell's oil and gas infrastructure at sea or in port.

Greenpeace said it would only do so if Shell complied with a 2021 Dutch court order to cut its emissions by 45% by 2030, which Shell has appealed.

Protests at sea are an established part of Greenpeace's operations.