Rainbow Warrior sails into action against Kingsnorth

Environmental group Greenpeace claims it is stepping up its campaign against the building of new coal-fired power stations in the UK by bringing in its famous Rainbow Warrior flagship to attract attention to the issue.

The vessel will arrive in London on 20 October to help push Greenpeace's Give Coal the Boot campaign. The ship will then travel to Kent, where a new coal power station is being planned at Kingsnorth, and welcome onboard the heads of several groups including Oxfam, the Women's Institute and the Tearfund.

Greenpeace campaigner Joss Garman claimed that the Rainbow Warrior would act as a focal point for the coalition building against planned coal plants. "Faith groups, development groups, politicians of all shades, scientists and thousands of ordinary people are standing up and saying no to new coal," he said.

The environmental charity's action against coal power stations were given a boost last month when six of its activists were found not guilty of causing malicious damage to the coal powered Kingsnorth facility which is owned by E-ON UK.

Six Greenpeace activists were charged with causing £30,000 of damage at Kingsnorth last October. But in September this year, the six were acquitted of criminal damage charges, with the jury agreeing by a 10-2 majority that " emergency action" could be used to stop damage to the environment.

The current Rainbow Warrior is a rebuilt version of the original ship that was destroyed in New Zealand by agents of the French government in 1985. The ship was docked in Auckland while preparing to set sail to French Polynesia to campaign against nuclear testing in the Pacific. Fernando Pereira, the ship's photographer, was drowned following two explosions which tore open the ship's hull.

The French government initially denied the sabotage had anything to do with its agents but eventually the prime minister admitted that members of the French Secret Service had carried out the attack. Two French agents were eventually convicted of charges including manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years and seven years. However, they were allowed to serve their sentence at a French Military base in Polynesia, and were released in fewer than two years.