The Arctic Sunrise is located at the the exact point where Repsol plans to drill for oil, off the coast of the Canary Islands. By radio, the Spanish Navy asks the ‘Arctic Sunrise’ to leave the area. Joel Stewart, captain of the ‘Arctic Sunrise’, replies:
“Spanish warship, your message has been received and understood. We are going to remain in position. We are obligated to stay here as our duty is to protect the environment. We will not allow reckless oil drilling by the ‘Rowan Renaissance’ in these deep waters as it is considered by us and our millions of supporters to be extremely reckless and we are calling on the Spanish government to protect the environment and to protect the people of the Canary Islands and not to be protecting the corporate profits of Repsol.”