New Rainbow Warrior To Make First Ever Visit To New Zealand In January

Auckland, Friday 16 November 2012: Today Greenpeace announced that the state of the art new Rainbow Warrior will visit New Zealand for the first time in January and February 2013.

“The Rainbow Warrior has been the heart and soul of Greenpeace global campaigning for over 30 years”, said Bunny McDiarmid, Executive Director of Greenpeace New Zealand. “She’s been raided, rammed, shot at and bombed but the spirit of the Rainbow Warrior is as strong as ever”.

“Many Kiwis donated to the building of the new Rainbow Warrior so it’s great to be able to show people what they made possible.”

“The Rainbow Warrior connects with New Zealanders not only because of her namesakes past but also of what she represents for our future. This ship is the embodiment of the direction we need to move in. Her design is innovative, intelligent and stylish. She maximises efficiency and minimises pollution of our environment. The Rainbow Warrior will be continuing to do the same thing but in a smarter, brand spanking cleaner way”, Bunny McDiarmid says. She says it’s appropriate to announce the visit of the Rainbow Warrior on the same day that Elvis Teddy of Te Whanau a Apanui is in the High Court to defend his protest action in 2011 against deep sea oil drilling in the Raukumara Basin. The announcement also coincides with BP agreeing to initially pay out US$4.5 billion in reparations for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill two years ago, while our Government is frantically giving out permits to foreign oil companies to come here and drill in even deeper waters off the coasts of Otago, Bay of Plenty and Northland.

As the third Greenpeace ship to hold the Rainbow Warrior name, she will be docking at five locations for free public tours of the ship in Auckland, Oban (Stewart Island), Bluff, Dunedin and Wellington. The itinerary will have some surprises in store. Details will be posted when confirmed closer to the time at www.rainbow-warrior.org.nz

The Rainbow Warrior will also visit Te Whanau a Apanui at Whangaparaoa Bay and help kick off a national “Oil free seas” hui and festival at Te Kaha in mid-January.

At 58 metres long the new Rainbow Warrior is Greenpeace’s first purpose built ship, funded entirely by donations from Greenpeace supporters from across the world. Kiwi contributions funded the wet room, where activists board the inflatables. A plaque onboard acknowledges this contribution.

After French Government agents bombed the first ship in Auckland harbour in 1985, the original ship was laid to rest off Matauri Bay, Northland. Her replacement then picked up the baton and led global campaigns for over 21 years before going to a Bangladesh charity called Friendship last year who now use the vessel as a hospital ship.

Notes for Editors:

Greenpeace undertook a full life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of the boat, from the initial build right through to scrapping her at the end of her life. At each stage Greenpeace made decisions around what materials to use to ensure she is the most environmentally friendly she can be.

• The new Rainbow Warrior has been built primarily to sail, with the option in unsuitable weather conditions to switch over to engine-powered, diesel-electric propulsion thus significantly reducing fuel consumption.

• The mast is an A-frame design and the positioning of the sails has been optimised for efficiency by testing the design at the University of Delft, Netherlands and the Wolfson Unit in Southampton, UK.

• The shape of the hull has been designed for maximum fuel conservation. Heat created by the engine is being re-used to heat water on board and for engine pre-heating.

• The ship has a Voluntary Environmental Protection Class notation and a Green Passport.

• The ship also has many other features that make it much more environmentally friendly than other ships such as a central filling system for oil and fuel in order to prevent spillages, biological treatment of grey and black water and toxic free paint.

• The hull is made out of steel instead of aluminium. Greenpeace undertook a dedicated engineering study to determine the best material to use for the hull. After tests we decided to use steel because it allows more operational flexibility and it’s easier to maintain. There were no significant price differences or environmental factors that influenced the decision, it was based on operational factors only.

ENDS

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