Main Page | Newsletter | Sailing calendar | America's Cup | Glossary

Greenpeace, Areva row deepens

Areva crewmembers, top, come face-to-face with Greenpeace protesters, left

LORIENT, France -- France's America's Cup team has launched legal proceedings against Greenpeace after its yacht was damaged during a protest against its nuclear sponsor.

The French Defi Areva syndicate claims Saturday's collision was deliberate, but the environmental action group said one of the French team's own boats rammed the protesters' dinghy, sending it crashing into the yacht.

In the French daily newspaper Liberation, General Director of Greenpeace France, Bruno Rebelle, wrote: "This incident is due to the brutality of the Areva crew."

Greenpeace claim their intention was to get on to the pontoon not far from the Areva yacht and erect a Greenpeace flag in protest.

Defi Areva helmsman Sebastian Destremeau said: "Fortunately we had a camera rolling and can prove Greenpeace's action was deliberate."

At the time of the incident, more than 100 journalists were watching the Areva dock from about 150 metres away.

RESOURCES America's Cup team profiles    YOUR SAY E-mail us with your views  on the world of sailing   MORE STORIES • French take over Illbruck berth  • French nuclear firm aids Cup bid  • Nuclear deal upsets Greenpeace     QUICKVOTE Is Greenpeace justified in protesting against Areva? Yes No View Results

French photojournalist Christian Fevrier said: "What we saw was a Greenpeace RIB, with four men on board, playing a game of cat and mouse for a few minutes with the coastguards' RIB.

"At the time they were 30 metres from Areva. Suddenly, after a tight fast turn, the Greenpeace boat escaped the marshalls and headed at full speed directly to the Areva yacht, hitting her bow-on. Happily, they had a rubber boat. If it had been a solid boat, the impact would certainly have made a big hole in the topsides."

LCI television showed the Greenpeace dinghy speeding toward the yacht but did not show the impact.

Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier, director of communication and spokesman for the Areva Group, said on Saturday: "We are amazed by this hooligan behaviour, which we condemn. It illustrates to everyone the intolerance and dogmatism of Greenpeace."

The French protesters are campaigning against the $23 million sponsorship of the team by Areva, which is involved in mining, power generation and reprocessing of nuclear fuels.

Areva was formed by the French government in September 2001 and operates 60 plants in 29 countries with 45,000 employees.

Police questioned 11 people about Saturday's collision, including Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign coordinator Frederic Marillier, who was released later.

The America's Cup is due to be held next year in Auckland, New Zealand, which has been declared by the government a nuclear free zone.