Two Greenpeace ships, the Rainbow Warrior and the Beluga, have been impounded by Rotterdam police following a weekend of protests by the environment organisation against the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in the city’s port area.

In total over 80 demonstrators were arrested.
Hundreds of Greenpeace protestors from around the world took part in the weekend’s demonstration against a new coal-fired electricity plant which the German firm Eon is to build in the Rotterdam port. Greenpeace claims coal is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gasses.
The two ships blockaded one of the city’s ports for several hours on Sunday to prevent coal from being delivered. But according to police, no coal shipments were in sight and the harbour police moved in when Rainbow Warrior tried to sail into the port.
Police also arrested around 80 people who had chained themselves to machinery, buildings and cranes on the site of the new power plant. Police spokeswoman Mignon van der Laan told AFP news agency that some were fined for trespassing and others will have to appear in court to face as yet unspecified charges.
‘If only the climate problem was tackled with the same speed as Greenpeace has been taken away,’ said Meike Baretta, Greenpeace’s campaign leader in a statement.
Eon spokesman Hans Schoenmakers told AFP: ‘Of course we can’t deny carbon dioxide is emitted from power plants but we do try to do this in as clean a way as possible. Electricity has to be produced and it cannot all come from wind and solar energy.’