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Greenpeace Flagship "Rainbow Warrior" Damages Reef in Philippines

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 09:00 CST

Greenpeace flagship "Rainbow Warrior" damages reef in Philippines

MANILA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The international environmental organization Greenpeace said on Tuesday that its flagship "Rainbow Warrior" Monday briefly ran aground and damaged a reef at Tubbataha National Marine Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea in central Philippines.

In a statement issued to the local media, Greenpeace said an inaccurate map was to blame for the incident, as the maritime chart indicated that the Rainbow Warrior should be 1.5 miles away from the hit reef.

"This incident is very regrettable. Within minutes after it happened we called up the marine park ranger station to inform them about the accident," said Red Constantino of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

The marine park rangers, assisted by Greenpeace, immediately conducted an assessment of the damaged reef. The park officials' final assessment of damage covered a total area of 32 meters by 3 meters of the reef valued at 384,000 pesos (6,857 US dollars), said the Greenpeace statement.

Greenpeace, whose flagship has been visiting the Philippines since Friday to promote the use of clean and renewable energy like sunlight and wind, said it would pay the damage immediately.

"Rainbow Warrior" arrived in the central Philippine island of Palawan Friday on an "Asia Energy Revolution Tour" which also includes Australia, China and Thailand, according to Greenpeace.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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