Greenpeace Protesters block Greek tanker with Russian cargo

Greenpeace protesters  blocked a Greek tanker from entering a southern English port on Monday due to its Russian fuel cargo with police making arrests, drawing condemnation from the British government reported Reuters.

Britain and the European Union have separately banned Russian-flagged vessels from their ports, with exemptions, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine which the Kremlin describes as a "special military operation".

The United Kingdom has said it will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year, which has meant that foreign flagged vessels carrying Russian cargoes are still able to call at ports for the time being.

Greenpeace said 12 activists occupied a jetty on Sunday evening in Navigator Terminals' Thames site in Essex, where the Greek-flagged Andromeda oil products tanker was expected to discharge its cargo.

"Ministers have kicked a ban on Russian oil imports to the end of the year despite strong public support for it," said Georgia Whitaker, oil and gas campaigner with Greenpeace UK.

A British government spokesperson said: "There is absolutely no excuse for Greenpeace’s disruptive actions, which are wholly unacceptable."

[Reuters]