Tuesday, March 3: At 10.30am today Extinction Rebellion Ōtautahi intercepted OMV’s oil rig at sea as it travelled past the Marlborough Sounds. 

Siana Fitzjohn and Nick Hanafin boarded the 100 metre high rig and are now secured to the side of the rig. 

The OMV rig is in transit from the Great South Basin, where it was doing exploratory drilling for deep sea oil. It’s due to arrive in Taranaki late this evening.

From on board the rig, the COSL Prospector, Fitzjohn says the pair want to expose OMV’s climate destroying operations in New Zealand. 

“We’ve shown that a bunch of ordinary Kiwis can stand up to one of the biggest oil companies in the world. I feel really proud of all of us for exposing OMV’s climate destroying agenda and showing them that we’ll be confronting them every step of the way,” she says. 

A team from Extinction Rebellion (XR) Ōtautahi, XR Ōtepoti, XR Nelson, Oil Free Otago, and School Strike for Climate were on a yacht sailing alongside the oil rig to protest and expose OMV’s offshore operations. The group insists that there can be no more drilling for fossil fuels in a climate emergency. School students, Molly Smeele (SS4C) and James Dufty (SS4C and XR) joined the voyage to call for climate justice and show the world what OMV are doing. They both recently appealed to the public for boats to protest oil at sea.

“Without opposition, companies like OMV will keep driving the earth towards mass extinction. They’re literally gambling everyone and everything we love.” Says Smeele, 15, from Christchurch Girls’ High school.

“It’s our first at-sea climate protest, so it’s kind of a big adventure. I’m sure a few classes were missed during the anti-nuclear movement so we hope our schools will understand how important this is.” 

The oil rig is due to continue drilling for new gas reserves off the coast of Taranaki. The group anticipate that the rig will maintain its course with the climbers on board. However it is unlikely that OMV will commence commercial drilling until the pair are removed.

“People are losing their homes and loved ones in the climate crisis. If OMV wants to knowingly disrupt the Earth’s climate with oil and gas drilling, then getting on their rig to disrupt them is necessary, ” says Nick Hanafin, the other climber on board OMV’s oil rig.

“We’re not sure how long we’ll be here for, but we plan to continue for as long as possible.”

© Scoop Media