The 'Oil Free Seas' Flotilla Return to Auckland

Oil Free Seas Flotilla skipper Andy Whittaker, left, and Greenpeace NZ Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid, arrive in Auckland after almost three weeks at sea. The flotilla was protesting against oil giant Anadarko drilling at a site over 100 nautical miles off the west coast of New Zealand, and in waters around a kilometre and a half deep. McDiarmid was aboard the Greenpeace sponsored yacht SV Vega which spent seven days inside the 500 metre exclusion zone as the Noble Bob Douglas prepared to start drilling. The yachts arriving in Auckland are SV Baltazar, SV Friendship, SV Shearwater II and SV Vega. SV Ratbag arrived back at her home port in the Bay of Islands while SV Tiama is heading south. The flotilla is a coalition of individuals and boat owners who oppose deep-sea drilling and the new legislation that takes away New Zealanders long-standing right to peacefully protest at sea.