Nuclear Ships Escape 'Blockade'
Two armed cargo vessels carrying nuclear waste to Britain pass through a protest flotilla of small yachts in the Tasman Sea

July 22, 2002

Two armed cargo vessels carrying nuclear waste to Britain have passed through a protest flotilla of small yachts in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.

The environmentalist group Greenpeace said the ships, the Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Teal, passed through the 10-ship strong "blockade" under cover of darkness.
Greenpeace said it had launched two fast boats to follow the ships and pass on anti-nuclear messages to the crews.

Protesters say the ships are carrying enough plutonium waste to make 50 nuclear bombs, which make them a potential target for terrorists.

The radioactive material is being returned to Britain because Japan found that safety documentation accompanying it had been falsified.

'Symbolic' blockade

More than 50 protesters took part in the Nuclear-Free Seas Flotilla, including Ian Cohen, an elected member of the New South Wales parliament in Australia.

It consisted of yachts from New Zealand, Australia and the tiny pacific islands of Vanuatu.

They battled high seas and unpredictable weather over the past two days to be ready for the two freighters, which left Japan on 4 July.

Greenpeace says the protest was largely a symbolic one, and that it never expected the ships to stop.

A smaller flotilla took part in a protest last year when a nuclear shipment from France passed through the Tasman Sea en route to Japan.

Pacific island nations have opposed the shipment of nuclear materials through their waters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2142000/2142390.stm