Greenpeace Blocking Of Oil Tankers From Russia Angers Indonesian Netizens

news Tuesday, 05 April 2022 | 18:15

Diana Mariska Greenpeace activist confronting Russian oil transportation. (Photo: Greenpeace) TheIndonesia.id – A protest against Russian oil transfer organized by Greenpeace has angered a lot of Indonesian netizens, after the organization also blocked tankers owned by Indonesian state-owned company Pertamina.

Netizens held their own protest through social media to condemn the blocking as Indonesia has continued to deal with cooking oil shortage and rising fuel price, and they were concerned that the Greenpeace protest would potentially worsen the situation.

Last week, Seaoath ship, carrying 100,000 tonnes of oil, was heading to the location of Pertamina Prime ship for oil transfer in European waters when it was blocked by Greenpeace activists who claimed that the trade activity was partly a form of support of Russian invasion to Ukraine.

Recipient company Trafigura later explained that the transfer was based on an agreement that had long existed prior to the invasion. And while the company condemned the invasion, it affirmed that the transfer must be done to fulfill the agreement.

The protest has been widely reported by international news outlets, and Greenpeace said they will continue the campaign.

Indonesians have shared their opinions on social media regarding the news, and some of them made it clear that they were unhappy with the protest.

Some of them were worried that it would further drive oil scarcity in Indonesia because it triggered supply chain disruption. Some even went as far as to say whether Russia should consider launching a missile attack on Greenpeace.

The organization has firmly stated that it will continue the effort to entirely stop the trade of Russian oil all over the world in a time of crisis,

“Every time Russian oil or gas are purchased, Putin’s war chest grows, and so far at least 299 supertankers with fossil fuels have left Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. Greenpeace calls for global divestment and phase out of fossil fuels and an embargo of Russian fossil fuels to stop the funding of the war,” a statement on Greenpeace’s website said.

Head of Greenpeace Denmark Sune Scheller added, “It is clear that fossil fuels and the money flowing into them is at the root cause of the climate crisis, conflicts, and war, causing immense suffering to people all over the world. Governments should have no excuse as to why they continue throwing money into fossil fuels that profit a few and are fuelling war, now in Ukraine. If we want to stand for peace, we must end this and urgently get off oil and gas.”