Greenpeace Campaigning Ships: The Rainbow Warrior and Its Fleet

For more than four decades, ships have been the heart of Greenpeace’s environmental campaigns. They have carried activists across oceans to confront whalers, blockade nuclear tests, and expose illegal fishing operations. At the center of this maritime tradition stands the Rainbow Warrior – a name that has become synonymous with peaceful environmental protest and direct action on the high seas.

The original Rainbow Warrior: from humble trawler to global icon 🔗

The first Rainbow Warrior had modest beginnings. Built in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1955, the vessel was originally commissioned as a research trawler named Sir William Hardy for the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In 1977, Greenpeace UK purchased the aging ship for approximately £37,000 and spent four months refitting it for activism. On May 2, 1978, the transformed vessel was relaunched as the Rainbow Warrior.

The ship’s new name carried significant symbolism. Greenpeace co-founder Susi Newborn named the vessel after the book Warriors of the Rainbow, a collection of prophecies and myths compiled by William Willoya and Vinson Brown. The book had been given to Greenpeace co-founder Bob Hunter by a wandering dulcimer maker in 1969, and he shared it during the organization’s early expeditions. The central legend told of people from many backgrounds who would one day unite to heal the Earth – a vision that resonated deeply with Greenpeace’s emerging identity. The name bridged peace activism with environmental protection, creating a powerful symbol that would endure for generations.

Campaigns that defined environmental activism 🔗

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Rainbow Warrior became the workhorse of Greenpeace’s most daring campaigns. The ship disrupted commercial whaling operations, positioning itself between harpoon ships and their targets. It challenged seal hunting in the North Atlantic and confronted vessels engaged in nuclear waste dumping at sea. Each action drew international media attention, transforming environmental issues into front-page news.

In early 1985, the Rainbow Warrior embarked on what would become its final mission – the Pacific Peace Voyage. In May, the ship carried out “Operation Exodus,” relocating over 300 residents of Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. These islanders had suffered for decades from radioactive contamination caused by American nuclear tests, including the devastating Castle Bravo detonation at Bikini Atoll in 1954. The Rainbow Warrior moved the entire community – along with their houses and livestock – to an uncontaminated island 180 kilometers away.

The night everything changed: July 10, 1985 🔗

After completing the Rongelap evacuation, the Rainbow Warrior sailed to Auckland, New Zealand. From there, it was to lead a flotilla of protest vessels to Moruroa Atoll in French Polynesia, where France planned to conduct nuclear weapons tests. The French government viewed this peaceful protest as a threat to its nuclear program.

Shortly before midnight on July 10, 1985, two explosions ripped through the Rainbow Warrior as it lay moored at Marsden Wharf. French secret service agents had attached limpet mines to the hull – one near the propeller and another on the engine room wall. The ship sank within minutes. While most crew members escaped, photographer Fernando Pereira drowned after returning below deck to retrieve his camera equipment. He had joined the voyage specifically to document French nuclear testing and bring those images to the world.

The bombing – codenamed “Opération Satanique” by the French intelligence service – quickly became an international scandal. New Zealand police captured two French agents, who eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The French government initially denied any involvement, but under mounting pressure, Prime Minister Laurent Fabius appeared on television to admit the truth. French Defence Minister Charles Hernu resigned, and the head of the intelligence service was fired.

Rather than silencing Greenpeace, the bombing galvanized support worldwide. Donations flooded in from every continent. The attack transformed the Rainbow Warrior from a campaigning vessel into a powerful symbol of what governments were willing to do to suppress peaceful environmental protest. In 1987, an international tribunal ordered France to pay $8.1 million in damages to Greenpeace.

A living memorial 🔗

After forensic examination, the original Rainbow Warrior was deemed beyond repair. In December 1987, the ship was given a final resting place at Matauri Bay in New Zealand’s Cavalli Islands, where it was scuttled to form an artificial reef. The local Māori community of Ngati Kura offered this resting place, and today the wreck attracts marine life and recreational divers from around the world. The ship’s masts were salvaged and now stand outside the Dargaville Museum, while the original bell continues to travel aboard each new Rainbow Warrior.

The fleet continues: carrying the legacy forward 🔗

The French bombing ultimately failed in its objective. Within months, Greenpeace had acquired a new vessel to carry the Rainbow Warrior name. Rainbow Warrior II was launched in 1989, built from the hull of a British deep-sea fishing vessel called the Grampian Fame. The ship was extensively refitted with new masts, a gaff rig, and environmentally low-impact systems for waste handling. For 22 years, Rainbow Warrior II continued the campaigning tradition, helping to end French nuclear testing in the Pacific, blocking coal ports, and confronting destructive fishing operations worldwide.

In 2011, Greenpeace made history by commissioning the first ship ever purpose-built for environmental campaigning. Rainbow Warrior III was designed by Amsterdam-based naval architects Gerard Dijkstra & Partners with sustainability at its core. The 58-meter sailing vessel features twin A-frame masts carrying over 1,200 square meters of sail, electric drive engines, biological sewage treatment, and a heat recycling system that uses engine-generated warmth to heat the cabins. The ship can house a crew of 33 for four weeks without resupply and includes a helicopter landing pad for aerial surveillance of environmental crimes.

Construction began in Gdańsk, Poland, in 2010 – exactly 25 years after the original ship was bombed. Over 100,000 donors from around the world contributed to the project, and many had their names etched onto a digital artwork aboard the vessel. Rainbow Warrior III entered service in December 2011 and continues active campaigning today.

Beyond the Rainbow Warrior: a fleet of vessels 🔗

The Rainbow Warrior has never sailed alone. Throughout Greenpeace’s history, multiple ships have worked in coordination on campaigns worldwide. The MV Sirius, a former Dutch Navy pilot vessel purchased in 1981, served as the flagship of Greenpeace Netherlands for nearly two decades. The ship’s green hull and rainbow colors became familiar sights at protests against nuclear waste dumping, industrial fishing, and offshore oil operations in European waters. After retirement in 1998, the Sirius remained docked in Amsterdam for educational purposes.

The Arctic Sunrise, acquired in 1995, brought unique capabilities to the fleet. Originally built as a Norwegian sealing vessel, the ship’s icebreaker design allows it to navigate polar regions inaccessible to other vessels. It has documented marine pollution, confronted illegal fishing operations, and conducted scientific research from Antarctica to the Amazon. In 2013, Russian authorities seized the Arctic Sunrise during protests against Arctic oil drilling, detaining its crew for three months before an international tribunal ordered their release.

Other vessels have included the MV Greenpeace, which replaced the original Rainbow Warrior after the bombing and served for 15 years, and the Esperanza, a former Russian firefighting vessel that became the largest and fastest ship in the Greenpeace fleet. The newest addition, the sailing vessel Witness, joined in 2022 and specializes in shallow-water operations that larger ships cannot access.

Controversy and the realities of direct action 🔗

The Greenpeace fleet has not operated without criticism. Some governments and industries have labeled the organization’s activists as “environmental terrorists” for their direct-action tactics at sea. Ships have been detained, boarded, and their crews arrested in various countries.

The fleet has also faced incidents that complicated its environmental message. On October 31, 2005, the Rainbow Warrior II ran aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The grounding damaged approximately 100 square meters of coral reef, and Greenpeace was fined about $7,000. The organization blamed inaccurate maritime charts provided by the Philippine government, noting that their navigation indicated they should have been 1.5 miles away from the reef when the ship struck.

Such incidents highlight the practical risks of direct-action campaigning at sea. Operating ships in remote and often dangerous locations inevitably involves hazards, and even the most experienced crews can encounter unexpected situations. Yet for Greenpeace, the calculus remains clear: the benefits of bearing witness to environmental destruction and taking peaceful action outweigh these risks.

What the ships represent 🔗

From a converted fishing trawler to purpose-built campaigning vessels, Greenpeace ships have evolved dramatically over nearly five decades. Yet their fundamental purpose remains unchanged. They carry activists to places where environmental crimes occur far from public view. They provide platforms for documenting destruction that would otherwise go unrecorded. And they demonstrate that peaceful protest can challenge even the most powerful governments and corporations.

The bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior proved that such actions carry real risks. But it also showed that attempts to silence environmental protest through violence often produce the opposite result. The name Rainbow Warrior now represents not just a ship, but an entire tradition of maritime activism that governments have been unable to suppress.

What do you think? How might the methods of maritime environmental activism need to evolve as technology changes and new environmental challenges emerge? And given the personal risks involved in direct-action campaigning, what motivates individuals to join crews like those of the Rainbow Warrior?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Warrior_(1955)
2. https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/warriors-rainbow-birth-environmental-mythology
3. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/ocean/bombing-rainbow-warrior-40-years-on
4. https://www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/about/our-history/bombing-of-the-rainbow-warrior/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Warrior_(1989)
6. https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/rainbow-warrior/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sirius
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubbataha_Reef