The Arctic Sunrise radar screen shows the position of the Russian seismic vessel Akademic Lazarev and its guard ship.
Greenpeace is confronting the seismic vessel in the Barents Sea north of Russia, protesting the Russian oil giant Rosneft as it prepares to drill for oil in the fragile Arctic.

Early this morning, as the Rosneft-contracted vessel Akademic Lazarev began firing underwater sound cannons up to 250 decibels in the Fedynskiy license block, Greenpeace approached the vessel, demanding that it stop operations immediately. Rosneft has recently signed joint deals to drill in the Arctic with international oil companies including ExxonMobil, BP and Statoil.