On August, 17, a group of Greenpeace activists (a total of 35) from the ship Arctic Sunrise entered the exclusion zone of Statoil's oil rig Songa Enabler in the Barents Sea to protest against oil production in the Arctic area. The protestors were trying to draw attention of the Norwegian government to the potential damage that oil and gas production at Barents Sea can do to the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
The police ordered the protestors to leave the security zone, as Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil had permission to drill in the area. When Greenpeace activists refused to leave, the police requested the Coast Guard to take action. Shortly afterwards, the Coast Guard boarded the Arctic Sunrise , arrested its crew and towed vessel to the Tromso.
Later, on August 21, Greenpeace activists were released. So, the fight against the Arctic drilling will continue. The next battle will take place in the Oslo District Court in November where a climate lawsuit against the Norwegian government for handing out new Arctic oil licenses will be heard.