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Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior III Vessel

Rainbow Warrior III motor-assisted sailing yacht was custom built for environmental activist group Greenpeace International.

A-frame staysail schooner

Air Draught

Electric drive system.

10kt on 300kW

October 2011

Owner / Sponsor

Greenpeace International

Fassmer Shipyard

Dykstra & Partners

Construction of the ship was completed in October 2011 and it entered service in December the same year.

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A $32m (€23m) contract to build the ship was awarded to Fassmer Shipyard, Germany, in July 2009. Funds for Rainbow Warrior III’s construction were sourced from about three million sponsors. The 57.9m-long ship uses wind energy instead of fossil fuels and incorporates green marine technology.

Greenpeace uses Rainbow Warrior III in its environmental awareness campaigns. The ship provides a functional platform for campaigns at sea and in harbours. It can be deployed on campaign operations worldwide in all climatic zones and used for conducting research activities.

The ship has the capacity to carry and launch inflatable boats in tough weather conditions. It also has a helicopter landing facility. The oceanic vessel is equipped with the latest in electronic navigation, sailing and communications equipment.

The ship was built to meet strict environmental demands and as a result the heat generated from the engine is recycled to heat the cabins and the used water is treated and purified by a biological system. Rainbow Warrior was moored to block the entrance of the Brofjorden port to stop all tanker traffic to and from Swedish Preem’s oil refinery for the peaceful protest to the refinery expansion in September 2020.

Greenpeace’s first purpose-built ship details

Rainbow Warrior III is Greenpeace ’s first purpose-built ship. Its predecessors, Rainbow Warrior and Rainbow Warrior II, were conversion ships.

Built in 1955, Rainbow Warrior was a trawler originally named Sir William Hardy, which served the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food until 1977.

Greenpeace International relaunched the ship as Rainbow Warrior in 1978 after acquiring the vessel for £40,000. The ship was used to protest against numerous activities such as nuclear weapons testing, seal hunting and whaling.

During a mission in 1985, the ship was sunk by the French intelligence service while in harbour in New Zealand. Rainbow Warrior II was rebuilt in 1989 on the fourth anniversary of the sinking of her predecessor.

Rainbow II is 52 years old and has completed two decades of campaigning and navigation across the world. The ship was replaced by Rainbow Warrior III as it was found unfeasible to upgrade Rainbow Warrior II to meet Greenpeace’s future global campaign challenges.

Rainbow Warrior III design

Designed by Amsterdam-based naval architects Gerard Dijkstra & Partners, the ship is of the same green colour as its predecessors. A lifecycle analysis was undertaken by a research company TNO on behalf of the architects. An optimised eco-design and sustainability report of the Rainbow Warrior III was then produced.

The superstructure and spars are made of aluminium while the hull is made from steel to maximise fuel conservation. The ship’s mast has two A-frame masts for five sails having an area of 1,260m 2 . The sails are made semi-automatic so that rigging-in and rigging-out becomes easier. The ship has a fuel capacity of 110,000l, freshwater capacity of 32,000l and an electric drive system (10k on only 300kW). It has 30 berths.

Rainbow Warrior III also includes biological sewage treatment and a central filling and venting system to prevent spillage within. Water heating on board is carried out with heat created by the engine generators.

Engine of the environmental group’s vessel

Rainbow Warrior III is a sailing ship mostly dependent on wind energy. It, however, has a back-up engine, 1,425kW Caterpillar C3512, that runs on diesel-electric propulsion . The back-up engine is used during bad weather conditions.

The ship, running on the back-up engine, moves at a maximum speed of 15k. Power from the diesel-electric engine reaches the Schaffran propellers through an electromotor.

The ship is also installed with a Schottel STT60, 110kW bow thruster.

Missions involving Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior III

Outfitted with advanced communication and electronic navigations systems, the Rainbow Warrior ships have been active participants in many environmental campaigns.

In 1985, the ship relocated the South Pacific Island’s population. The evacuation transported 300 islanders and more than 100t of building materials in ten days.

In 2004, the ship provided relief to disaster victims of the tsunami in South East Asia. Rainbow Warrior campaigned against the French Government’s nuclear testing from 9 June 1995 until 20 March 1996.

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Greenpeace activists hold a banner after boarding a vessel carrying a Shell oil platform in the North Sea on February 6, 2023.

Undaunted by Jail Threat, Greenpeace Activists Continue Protest on Shell North Sea Platform

"we will not let shell silence us," vowed one of the demonstrators. "the world needs to hear about shell's ongoing plans to further heat up the planet, increasing climate devastation without paying a cent towards rebuilding the carnage.".

Undeterred by a court order threatening heavy fines or even two years behind bars, a pair of Greenpeace activists on Monday joined four other protesters aboard a ship carrying a Shell oil platform into the North Sea in order to demand the company stop expanding fossil fuel production around the world.

On Monday morning, the Greenpeace France-chartered trimaran Merida and two small boats approached the White Marlin heavy-lift vessel, which is transporting Shell's 34,000-ton floating production storage and offloading vessel to the Penguins oil field near the Shetland Islands off northeast of Scotland. According to Energy Voice , it's Shell's first new manned installation in the U.K. North Sea in 30 years.

Monday's action follows the delivery Friday of an injunction stipulating that the four activists who climbed aboard the Shell platform last week must seek an agreement with the White Marlin 's captain to safely disembark, and that the two Greenpeace boats—the U.K.-flagged Sea Beaver and Dutch-flagged Arctic Sunrise —must stay at least 500 feet away from the White Marlin .

"We will not let Shell silence us," Greenpeace climber Silja Zimmerman, Greenpeace—who boarded the White Marlin with Pascal Havez—vowed Monday in a statement . "The world needs to hear about Shell's ongoing plans to further heat up the planet, increasing climate devastation without paying a cent towards rebuilding the carnage we're seeing. And we have bad news for Shell: People everywhere are rising up in resistance because we no longer accept reliance on fossil fuel companies that are making our lives worse."

\u201c\ud83d\udea8 BREAKING: Shell has tried to SILENCE @Greenpeace\u2019s peaceful protest at sea with legal threats.\n\nSHELL FAILED. \n\nClimbers from Germany and France have joined the activists currently occupying Shell\u2019s oil platform on its way to the North Sea.\u270a\n\n#MakeShellPay\u201d — Greenpeace UK (@Greenpeace UK) 1675689101

According to Greenpeace:

The platform which six activists are now occupying is a key piece of oil and gas production equipment that will enable Shell to unlock eight new wells in the Penguins field in the North Sea. Burning all of the oil and gas from the field redevelopment would create 45 million tons of CO2—more than the entire annual emissions of Norway.

"We're living with increasingly sweltering summers, a lack of rain is destroying forests and affecting farmers, and with expensive energy bills it's getting harder and harder to put food on the table," Zimmerman said. "Whole workforces and entire communities are exposed to the boom-and-bust of volatile oil and gas markets. And in Germany, floods in 2021 killed 180 people, with reconstruction costs of €30 billion."

"Enough is enough," she added. "Shell must stop drilling, and start paying."

\u201cICYMI: \u201cThat Shell is investing in new oil and gas is absolutely criminal.\u201d - Usnea, Greenpeace US activist.\n\nJoin Usnea by signing this petition to #EndFossilCrimes \u27a1\ufe0f https://t.co/sdokuM38Hv\n\n#ClimateJustice #MakeShellPay\u201d — Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) 1675681996

Activist Hussein Ali Ghandour, who is from Lebanon, said aboard the Merida that "I come from the driest region of the world that is warming twice as fast as the global average."

"Across the Middle East and North Africa, droughts, raging forest fires, flash floods, and other climate disasters are now part of our daily realities, aggravating our social and economic woes," he stated. "It is big polluters like Shell that bear the historic responsibility for this loss and damage. The climate justice clock is ticking and polluters must stop developing new fossil fuel projects and pay for the decades of devastation they have caused around the world."

\u201c\ud83d\udea8 BREAKING: Greenpeace activists have OCCUPIED a Shell platform en route to the North Sea!\n\nThey have a message for the oil giant - Stop Drilling. Start Paying.\n\nShoutout to these brave activists \ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f\u201d — Greenpeace UK (@Greenpeace UK) 1675181034

Another Greenpeace activist, Noa Helffer, said: "We know the climate crisis is hitting hardest in countries that are the least to blame; and in Europe we stand in solidarity. Growing up in Italy, we saw waist-high flooding sometimes, and conversely, there's been times where it didn't rain for months, and farmers were left with only dried leaves."

Greenpeace's North Sea protest came as Shell reported its profits more than doubled in 2022 to a record $40 billion.

"Shell's profits are our loss," Helffer said. "It's time to make polluters pay."

Join Us: News for people demanding a better world

• 'Shell Is Richer Because We're Poorer': UK Oil Giant Sees Record $40 Billion Profit ›
• Greenpeace International climate justice activists board and occupy Shell platform en route to major oilfield with message: ‘STOP DRILLING. START PAYING.’ ›
• 'Stop Drilling and Start Paying': Greenpeace Activists Occupy Shell Oil Platform ›
• Opinion | I Occupied Shell's Ship to Hold Them Accountable | Common Dreams ›
• $8.6 Million Shell Lawsuit Threatens Greenpeace's Ability to Protest ›
• 'North Sea Fossil Free': Activists in 6 Countries Protest 'Unhinged' Oil and Gas Development ›
• Breaking: Greenpeace activists have occupied a Shell platform ... ›
• Greenpeace protesters board Shell platform bound for Shetland ... ›
• Shell reports highest profits in 115 years - BBC News ›

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BREAKING: Shell threatens Greenpeace protestors with jail and fines, but legal tactics fail as Greenpeace sends second boat and more climbers to occupy oil platform

6th February 2023

• Oil and gas
• Press Release

Action photos and video available here . 

Shell has attempted to silence Greenpeace International’s peaceful occupation of its oil and gas platform at sea by hitting the campaign group with an injunction late on Friday [FEB 3] – threatening up to two years’ jail time and fines [1].

But today, Shell’s heavy-handed legal tactics failed, as Greenpeace International successfully went ahead with plans to escalate its protest by adding two more climbers to occupy the company’s oil and gas platform – using other boats unaffected by the court order.

Protestors are demanding that the company stops expanding oil and gas production around the world, takes responsibility for fuelling the climate crisis, and pays up for the climate destruction it is causing everywhere.

At around 8am [GMT] in the Channel, the Greenpeace France-chartered Merida trimaran and two small boats approached the White Marlin heavy-lift vessel, which is carrying Shell’s 34,000-tonne oil and gas platform to the North Sea.

Dramatic footage shows an escort vessel staying close to the activists. This boat is owned by Boskalis, the company Shell has contracted to transport the oil platform.

Two Greenpeace International climbers, Pascal Havez from France and Silja Zimmermann from Germany, used ropes to board the Shell-contracted ship from the Suzy Q, a small boat owned by Greenpeace International.

They joined the four original activists – Carlos Marcelo Bariggi Amara from Argentina, Yakup Çetinkaya from Turkey, Imogen Michel from the UK and Usnea Granger from the US – who have been occupying the oil and gas platform since Tuesday 31 January.

Three other ally activists – Nonhle Mbuthuma from South Africa; Hussein Ali Ghandour, from Lebanon; and Noa Helffer, from Italy – joined the protest from the Merida, bearing witness and brandishing banners with the message: Stop Drilling. Start Paying.

It comes after Shell announced record profits of £32.2bn on Thursday 2 February.

Greenpeace activist and Climber Silja Zimmermann said: “We will not let Shell silence us. The world needs to hear about Shell’s ongoing plans to further heat up the planet, increasing climate devastation without paying a cent towards rebuilding the carnage we’re seeing.

“And we have bad news for Shell: people everywhere are rising up in resistance, because we no longer accept reliance on fossil fuel companies that are making our lives worse.

“We’re living with increasingly sweltering summers, a lack of rain is destroying forests and affecting farmers and with expensive energy bills it’s getting harder and harder to put food on the table.

“Whole workforces and entire communities are exposed to the boom and bust of volatile oil and gas markets. And in Germany, floods in 2021 killed 180 people, with reconstruction costs of €30bn. Enough is enough. Shell must stop drilling, and start paying.”

Speaking from on board the Merida, Greenpeace activist Hussein Ali Ghandour from Lebanon said: “I come from the driest region of the world that is warming twice as fast as the global average. Across the Middle East and North Africa, droughts, raging forest fires, flash floods and other climate disasters are now part of our daily realities, aggravating our social and economic woes.

“It is big polluters like Shell that bear the historic responsibilities for this loss and damage. The climate justice clock is ticking and polluters must stop developing new fossil fuel projects and pay for the decades of devastation they have caused around the world.”

Speaking from on board the Merida, Noa Helffer from Italy said: “We know the climate crisis is hitting hardest in countries that are the least to blame; and in Europe we stand in solidarity. Growing up in Italy, we saw waist-high flooding sometimes, and conversely there were times when it didn’t rain for months, and farmers were left with only dried leaves. Shell’s profits are our loss. It’s time to make polluters pay.”

Late Friday evening [FEB 3], Shell delivered a court order granted “ex parte”, meaning Greenpeace was not given advanced notice, nor a chance to offer a defense. This undermines the fairness of the legal process.

The injunction stipulates:

• The four activists on board the oil and gas platform must seek to agree a plan with the White Marlin’s captain to safely disembark;
• The UK-flagged Sea Beaver vessel and the Dutch-flagged Arctic Sunrise and their boats must stay outside a 500-meter exclusion zone around the White Marlin ship.

The Merida and two other small boats were not included in the injunction application.

The platform which six activists are now occupying is a key piece of oil and gas production equipment that will enable Shell to unlock eight new wells in the Penguins field in the North Sea. Burning all of the oil and gas from the field redevelopment would create 45m tonnes of CO2 – more than the entire annual emissions of Norway [2]. And between 1965 and 2018, Shell has been responsible for ten times the carbon pollution of the Philippines [3].

Shell has teased in an investor note that the Penguins redevelopment could also create the possibility of opening up entirely new fossil fuel reserves [4].

Today’s action is the latest in a series of peaceful protests targeted at Shell. After the oil and gas platform occupation began last week , another group of Greenpeace activists staged a protest at the company’s London headquarters on Thursday February 2, on the day of its profits announcement. Activists erected a 3-meter-tall mock petrol station price board outside the company’s London HQ, displaying the £32.2bn ($39bn) Shell made in profits in 2022, with a question mark next to the amount it will pay towards climate loss and damage.

And today, activists in the Philippines have staged a simultaneous protest at Shell’s Bonifacio Global City headquarters. Activists from climate-impacted communities biked from Quezon City to deliver a letter of demands.

Notes to Editors

Photos and video available from the Greenpeace Media Library .

Photos and video from the original action on Tuesday 31st available here .

Photos from the London protest available here .

Activists available for interviews, contact:

Emily Davies, Greenpeace Global Press Lead: +44 7870 260 213, [email protected]

Greenpeace International Press Desk: +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]

[1] Breaking an injunction can lead to Contempt of Court proceedings in England and Wales. The penalty for contempt of court is up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.

[2] Burning all of the oil and gas from the Penguins field would create 45m tonnes of CO2 – more than the entire annual emissions of Norway

• Norway’s annual emissions for 2021 were 40,918,550.00 t, according to Our World in Data .
• Ecuador’s annual emissions for 2021 were 41,321,736.00 t, according to Our World in Data .
• According to Rystad, the Penguins redevelopment contains 79.9 (Oil mBOE) and 209.8 (Gas BCF).

Using the multipliers found in the EPA calculator we get the below figures:

• 79.9 (Oil mBOE)  x 0.42 (EPA Multiplier) = 33,516,000 tonnes CO2e
• 209.8 (Gas BCF) x 54,740 (EPA Multiplier) = 11,489,926 tonnes CO2e
• 11,489,926 tonnes CO2e + 33,516,000 tonnes CO2e = 45,005,926 tonnes CO2e

[3] Between 1965 and 2018, Shell has produced ten times the carbon pollution of the Philippines.

• Between 1965 and 2018 the Climate Accountability Institute calculated that Shell was responsible for 32.498 billion tonnes of Co2e
• Philippines emissions from 1907 to 2018 is 3,110,444,183.00t CO2e, according to Our World in Data .

[4] Penguins growth strategy, Upstream, 2018

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Greenpeace to build £14m flagship

Many navies are shrinking as defence cuts bite, but environment groups are renewing their fleets in response to growing ecological pressure on oceans and losse s of their vessels at sea.

German and Polish shipyards will shortly start work on Greenpeace's £14m flagship, a mega-yacht that will become the third Rainbow Warrior next year. It will be one of the biggest yachts to have been commissioned in the last decade with, say the designers, a massive 1,300 sq metres of sail supported on two A-frame masts.

Like billionaire Roman Abramovich's £300m mega-yacht, the Eclipse , also expected to be launched this year in Germany, the Rainbow Warrior III will have its own helipad and room for a flotilla of inflatables. But while it will sleep 30 in more comfort than the fishing boats the environment group usually converts, it will not have Abramovich's swimming pools, military-grade missile defence system, submarine or armour-plating.

Instead it will be one of the greenest ships afloat and a satellite system will allow campaigners to stream video footage from anywhere in the world. "We have converted ships for 30 years and it's time we practised what we preach," said Ulrich von Eitzen, a Greenpeace spokesman. "Upgrading the existing ship was not technically or financially feasible and converting a secondhand ship would compromise our campaigning and energy conservation needs."

The new ship will have both diesel and electric engines but these are expected to be in use for less than 10% of its time at sea. "The aim is to drastically reduce emissions and to burn far less fuel. You can never say in advance what speeds it will do, but its main propulsion will be by wind," said Eitzen.

Analysis showed that it was ecologically efficient to build from new rather than convert another ship, but that there was little difference between an aluminium or steel hull. By far the greatest impact on the environment was found to be during the ship's use rather than in the construction or eventual demolition phases.

The decision to choose sail rather than rely on fossil fuels is also a deliberate challenge to the shipping industry to reduce its carbon and other polluting emissions. Ships' diesel engines rely on " bunker" oil, one of the dirtiest fuels in the world, but owners are coming under increased pressure to reduce emissions and marine designers are investigating a return to sail . Critics have argued that Greenpeace has been reluctant to address shipping emissions for fear of drawing attention to its own fossil-fuel-powered fleet.

The cost should not be a problem for the group, which, with nearly three million supporters, is extremely wealthy. The new Rainbow Warrior will bring the Greenpeace fleet to six ocean-going ships, as big as the navies of many island states such as Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Maldives and Mauritius. Greenpeace boats have been used from the Arctic to the Amazon to confront whalers, loggers, illegal fishers, GM food importers and nuclear testing. They are crewed by a mix of professional sailors and volunteers.

In 1986 the French government ordered its secret service to sink the first Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, New Zealand.

The Sea Shepherd conservation group, based in California, is also planning to augment its fleet of former US and British coastguard ships after one of its vessels was smashed in half by a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctica the week before last. Even as the futuristic Ady Gil, a £1.1m carbon-fibre trimaran, was sinking , Sea Shepherd's Hollywood backers launched an appeal to raise £2m for a new "bigger, better, faster ship".

"I won't let them take me down. I'm going to build another ship, an improved version," said Ady Gil, a producer who gave £600,000 to the group last year to buy the ship. It held the speed record for circumnavigating the world and could travel at 50 knots in high seas. Within a few hours of the sinking, a further £120,000 was pledged to Sea Shepherd by animal lovers, mainly in the US and Australia.

Gil's donation follows a £3m gift to Sea Shepherd from Hollywood quiz host Bob Barker last year to convert a former Norwegian whaler into an enforcement vessel. "We need everything: coastal patrol vessels, inflatables, personal watercraft and other types of vessels and marine equipment," said Captain Paul Watson , the group's director.

Oceana , one of the world's largest maritime protection organisations, with more than 300,000 members, also plans to augment its fleet. The group, which monitors and reports illegal fishing in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, plans to lease a third ocean-going boat.

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EARTHRACE-2

Earthrace-2 Project Summary

We are developing the awesome new vessel “EARTHRACE-2” to substantially extend our work in marine conservation. Initially she will be used to assist in monitoring the massive new CMAR Marine Protected Area encompassing Galapagos, Cocos Island, Coiba Island and Malpelo Island. These campaigns involve joint operations that sees local Rangers, Coastguard or Navy Personnel joining our ship and overseeing operations. We provide the ship, tender vessels, Schiebel S100 UAV, pilots, food and fuel, while the government agencies assist in flight permissions, and have jurisdictional oversight of the operations. We will also continue with selected scientific research projects that require support in remote locations. HERE is the “Deck” that gives a brief summary of the project. HERE is the Spanish Version. For more information please send us an email .

EARTHRACE-2, like her predecessor, will be a technology marvel, and one of the most awe-inspiring vessels the world has ever seen. Our video above discusses many of the things that make this boat so special.

The hull form has been extensively tank-tested in Melbourne (Australia) under various displacement and thrust conditions, allowing accurate predictions of final vessel performance.

[slider] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CAD1.png”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CAD2.png”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CAD3.png”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CAD4.png”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CAD5.png”] [/slider]

Based on a World Record Holder

The most obvious thing about EARTHRACE-2 will be her form – One of the most awe-inspiring vessels the world has ever seen. More than that however – she will be a technology showcase of the latest in maritime and surveillance hardware. This includes Schiebel S100 Drone with 200nm range, ELINT electronic detection system, FLIR thermal Imaging, a helm resembling that of a modern plane, FC470 Milpro zodiac, 10m amphibious RIB (launched astern from a roll-off platform), and a 30-person theater / briefing room.

EARTHRACE-2 is based on the original Earthrace, a 24m trimaran that set a new world record (that still stands today) for circling the globe, running 100% biodiesel fuel. In 2009 she went to Antarctica and became the star of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars TV Series. Earthrace set the benchmark for uncompromising focus on efficiency, functionality and awesome good looks. EARTHRACE-2 is looking to repeat this, but with a much bigger vessel that will take things to a completely new level, and change the way the world views conservation campaigns. Hi-Res CAD files can downloaded here .

Specifications

* Design: Tri-Hull Wavepiercer * Construction: Sandwich composite * Length: 59.3m (195 ft) * Beam: 12m (39ft) * Crew: 14 * Maximum Speed: 30 knots * Crew: 12 * Guest Capacity: 14 * Accommodation: 26 people * Guest Rooms: 5 * Range 10,000nm at 12 knots * Briefing Room / Theater (30 person) * Tender Vessel: 10m (35ft) RIB * Designer: LOMOcean Design Ltd * Build Time: 24 months * Build Location: TBA

[slider] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S106.jpg”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S105.jpg”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S101.jpg”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S102.jpg”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S100.jpg”] [slide img=”http://www.earthrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S104.jpg”] [/slider]

The original Earthrace boat had over 250,000 visitors walk aboard her over a 3 year period. Through a combination of boatshows, and sponsor events / open days in port cities, she became the most photographed boat on the planet. Earthrace-2 will dedicate a period every year to continue this legacy, opening the boat to the public, schools, and at selected events.

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Pollutants and Heavy Metals Taint Moscow’s Water Supply

Studies show that both surface water and groundwater in Moscow are polluted. 

Moskva River. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons .

Russia is rich in water, boasting 2 million lakes, 210,000 rivers, and a quarter of the earth’s freshwater reserves. Despite the country’s bountiful resources, access to clean water is an issue in many towns and cities. Rampant Soviet-era pollution dirtied Russia’s major waterways, and unchecked dumping of chemicals and wastewater continues today.

Water contamination is a concern in Moscow, the country’s capital and largest city. Fifty-six percent of water supply sources in Moscow, home to 12 million, do not meet safety standards. Studies have shown both surface and groundwater pollution in the city.

In 2013, Greenpeace Russia analyzed contamination in Moscow’s key river , the Moskva. The organization collected samples from 10 discharge sites along 50 kilometers of riverbank. Every sample showed high levels of pollutants, including sulfur, oil, heavy metals, and aluminum.

“There are toxic substances that exceed Russia’s safety standards by many times,” Dmitry Artamonov, head of the Toxics campaign of Greenpeace Russia, told The BRICS Post . In one sample, mercury exceeded safety levels by 20 times; in another sample, manganese surpassed safety levels by 120 times.  

Currently, most of Moscow’s drinking water comes from upstream locations which are somewhat cleaner. Researchers warn that the contamination still poses health risks, however. The Moskva flows into the Volga River, which supplies water for agriculture. In many cases, the city’s polluted water is used to produce its food.

The pollution may also pose an increasing risk as the population of Moscow grows. Urbanization will overtake a larger portion of the Moskva River, and water demand will rise. Drawing more water from underground reserves, which are also contaminated, may not be an option.

A 2017 study assessed soil and groundwater contamination in Moscow and found significant concentrations of copper, lead, manganese, and zinc. An array of other heavy metals were also detected, both in the soil and the aquifer. The study noted that the amounts of ammonium, iron, manganese, and cadmium in the groundwater exceeded Russian safety standards. Much of the contamination is believed to be from the textile and leather industry, which dumped wastewater near the testing site in the early 20th century.

A Toxic Legacy

According to official regulatory data, 35 to 60 percent of drinking water reserves in Russia fail to meet safety standards. For surface water and spring water. 40 and 17 percent is impotable, respectively. In total, 11 million Russians do not have access to safe drinking water.

The widespread water pollution is largely due to Soviet-era dumping. Enormous amounts of chemicals and sewage were deposited into Russia’s rivers, including radioactive wastewater in some places. The impact on Russia’s water resources, in Moscow and elsewhere, is immense. In a 2009 survey, Russians named water pollution as the country’s most serious environmental issue .

Troublingly, large-scale industrial dumping continues today. A handful of Russian companies are taking steps to improve the quality of their wastewater, but the incentive is low.

“The Russian government doesn’t do anything to encourage or force manufacturers to curb their toxic pollution,” says Artamonov. “It is only when ecological needs coincide with economic imperatives that the enterprises do anything.”

The government has taken some action, approving the Clean Water Federal Target Programme in 2010 . The aim of the program is to provide clean water to all communities in Russia by replacing infrastructure and improving water quality. According to experts, life expectancy in Russia could rise by 5-7 years if the plan is successfully implemented.

In the past, Russia has also looked for ways to tap its abundant eastern water resources. The majority of the country’s freshwater lies in Siberia, yet most of Russia’s population lives in the west. Although transfer schemes have been considered, the vast distance between the Siberian and European parts of Russia makes it nearly impossible to harness the country’s freshwater. As a result, the future of drinking water in Moscow and other Russian cities remains unclear.

Resources And Further Reading

In context reporting from Circle of Blue: WaterViews | Russia

Addressing Problems with Water Quality in Russia (The Borgen Project) Assessment of soil and Groundwater Contamination by Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Russian and Indian Megacities (Science Direct) AQUASTAT: Russian Federation (FAO) Greenpeace: Moscow River overpolluted (The BRICS Post) Greenpeace examined the Moskva River (Greenpeace) Greenpeace launched Water Patrol on the Moskva River (Greenpeace) Moscow River Passing on Its Pollutants (The Moscow Times) Russia’s Troubled Waters Flow With The Mighty Volga (NPR) Russian Water Industry Remains at Crossroads (Water & Wastewater International)

Kayla Ritter is a recent graduate of Michigan State University, where she studied International Relations and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She is currently based in Manton, Michigan. Kayla enjoys running, writing, and traveling. Contact Kayla Ritter

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The central Bitter End village along Marina Beach features a mix of new materials and those salvaged from the destruction inflicted by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BEYC)

Celebrating Fifty Years in 2023: The Bitter End Yacht Club Is Back!

By Michelle Slade

We approached the Bitter End Yacht Club by water and the scene that opened up before us hummed with early morning activity — boats tying up at the docks, the open-air reception area a dynamic pass-through for guests coming and going, and playful kids leaping off a floating pontoon into the warm turquoise water just off the beach. Those first impressions captured the essence of something that was different to what had been before, yet in many ways, was just the same as it always had been. 

The world-renowned and beloved resort, which has existed in some iteration since the ‘60s, is open again for business after a devastating loss in the wake of Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The resort lost some one hundred structures; just one original cottage was spared. When disaster strikes, there is nothing more to do than to gather the pieces and start the next chapter, which is precisely what the folks at the Bitter End Yacht Club have been doing these past six years. Rebuilding the resort in the British Virgin Islands’ North Sound has been as much of a spiritual endeavor as a physical task of reconstruction; it needed to be purposeful, as Kerri Jaffe, President, BEYC International, noted.

“We looked to our history because it was so important to us that people felt that legacy and sense of place when they arrived at the new BEYC,” she said. “We had to find ways to reinvent that so it existed in every element of what we did.”$0

Over 50 years, based on the needs of the clientele and the owner’s vision, the original BEYC had become a rambling nautical village, and the tactical design goal was to preserve that feeling. Recreating the original BEYC perfectly would have been inauthentic, so while inspiration has been lifted from the past, it is noticeable that each structure has a different look and feel through the use of contrasting wood species, color, and mixed materials — old and new — which have succeeded in recapturing that quintessential village feeling and the resort’s salty past. 

The new build is hurricane-proof to modern standards and flood-friendly, and the overall layout is compact, which draws people together around cocktails and a multi-dimensional dining experience: grab coffee and pastries (all handcrafted onsite) to go at the Bitter End Barista or enjoy casual dining inside at The Buoy Room. The Reef Sampler brings together boats, beaches, and bars … right on the beach. A boat-turned-bar constructed from a salvaged hull raised from the North Sound following Irma, The Reef Sampler is just one of many recycled details incorporated into the reconstruction.

Likewise, décor in The Clubhouse Restaurant, which offers open-air dining and incredible views of the North Sound, has been recovered from hurricane debris adding to its rustic-with-a-touch-of-nautical elegance in keeping with its origins; The Clubhouse was possibly the earliest bar in the North Sound, built by Bitter End’s first proprietor as a spot for yachties to stop by for cocktails and a meal.

“Everything hanging on the gallery wall in The Clubhouse survived the storm,” Jaffe said. “As a steward of the seas and the community that surrounds the resort through the Bitter End Foundation, it was mission critical to the owners that we kept the environmental footprint as small as possible. We really foraged, we upcycled and recycled every scrap of material we could including timber, large-scale beams, we crushed all of the concrete for reuse. Among the debris, we found pieces of BEYC history — room signage, directional signage, photography, portholes, which was so special and we knew these elements would connect the old with the new.” 

Presently, the resort has just two stunning Marina Lofts — the first over-the-water bungalows in the BVI — available for overnight stays on the island. The rebuild plan intended first to establish dining and recreation amenities to host the boating community, many of whom stay aboard private vessels. The long-term plan, says Jaffe, is a 22-room boutique hotel, six Marina Lofts, hillside cottages, duplex cottages for large groups, and, for the first time, six beach “shacks,” which will be located to the north of the watersports center.

Boating guests are enjoying the new marina with its wider slips and dockage layout customized to accommodate boats of all sizes and shapes, including multihulls, and the anchorage option via any one of 72 mooring balls. The BVI has long been recognized as the watersport playground of the Caribbean and nowhere better than from the Bitter End is it possible to sail, kiteboard, wingfoil, windsurf, SUP, or fish. The BEYC’s watersports center offers rental gear, and instructors are at hand. Bonus: boaters are welcome to use the club showers; charge is $3 for those who aren’t club guests. Anyone taking a lesson at the watersports center can shower for free.

Many of the staff at BEYC have been part of the fabric of BEYC history for years through their parents and their grandparents, notes marketing manager Ellinor Walters Donlan, who resides part-time at BEYC. She attributes much of the success of the rejuvenation of the BEYC to its team.

“These are the people that brought the spirit back to the property for us, not how the buildings looked but how the resort felt. We want people to feel that spirit and feel like part of our family because that’s part of the magic that brings people back. We have an absolutely gorgeous location and one of the best places to play on the water in the world but the way BEYC makes people feel is unique.”

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