What’s it like to sail on Greenpeace’s iconic Rainbow Warrior?

Sitting upon the stern of the Rainbow Warrior in the lightless expanse of night, I find myself mesmerized by the way the stars—more numerous than I have ever seen—cascade almost to the water’s edge.

I feel as though I am immersed in a snow globe, looking at the night sky when suddenly, someone shouts, “Phosphorescence on the bow!”. Rushing to the ship’s bow, I lie face down on the mesh net suspended above the waters of the Indian Ocean and become enraptured by the ghost-like lights that are caressing the ship’s bow and sending waves of glitter in our wake.

What an incredible experience to be here, on one of Greenpeace International’s three ships that sail the world’s oceans protecting our planet. I have joined the ship following a snorkeling adventure on Ningaloo’s reefs, which featured a bonus swim with whale sharks.

This magical feeling of being ensconced within nature in this stunning part of the world is spoiled only by the unsightly gas rigs looming in the distance, expelling emissions that fuel the fires of catastrophic climate change.

Most of us on land are oblivious to these monstrous structures, which date back to as far as the 1980s. But here out at sea, the sight of these rigs, currently owned by gas behemoth Woodside, is a grim reminder of the threat that fossil fuel companies pose to the natural world.

That’s what has brought the Rainbow Warrior out here, sailing along Western Australia’s coastline from Albany to Broome. The ship’s mission in WA is to raise awareness of Woodside Energy’s intention to significantly expand its gas operations, in terms of scale and timeline.

“It’s frankly inconceivable that the government has begun providing approvals to such a blatantly harmful operation, and I can only begin to imagine the sadness on the faces of future generations as they look back and say to us, ‘What have you done, what were you thinking?'”

Woodside wants to open up new gas fields off the WA coast, and lay gas supply pipelines traversing the seabed, threatening pristine reefs like Scott Reef and the habitat of whales, turtles and other endangered marine life. It wants to keep extracting and exporting this gas through to 2070, a plan which defies expert advice from global energy experts and climate scientists, who all say that new fossil fuels are simply incompatible with achieving our global climate goals.

At a time when we should be pulling out all the stops to secure a habitable planet for ourselves and future generations—a goal that is only achievable if we phase out fossil fuels and rapidly reduce emissions—Woodside wants to forge ahead with gas expansion plans that would spew out emissions equivalent to 12 times Australia’s annual climate pollution.

It’s frankly inconceivable that the government has begun providing approvals to such a blatantly harmful operation, and I can only begin to imagine the sadness on the faces of future generations as they look back and say to us, “What have you done, what were you thinking?”.

I’m sure I speak for myself as well as the Greenpeace crew and campaigners when I say it is imperative that this madness be stopped.

Though our mission on the Rainbow Warrior is a grave one, it is a voyage filled with hope, solidarity and the smart execution of a campaign strategy that is just incredible to watch.

The sight of the iconic ship alone inspires hope. Coming in at 58 meters long with three masts 55 meters high and over 1,000 cubic meters of sail—all of which allows the craft to glide through the seas without fuel—the ship is decked out in distinctive Greenpeace livery and is one of the most sustainable ships in the world.

Witnessing the Rainbow Warrior moored off the coast of Exmouth and Cable Beach imbued much needed hope and inspiration into the communities who came to the ship’s open days, and those who read about the vessel being on our shores. A sense of hope that Greenpeace can shift the political powers that be towards stopping Woodside Energy’s climate-wrecking plans.

As our voyage unfolds, I also draw immense hope from the crew on board—18 of the most passionate, tenacious and committed humans I’ve ever met. The crew leave their family and friends behind to commit to these journeys for extended periods of time, navigating waters across the globe to wherever they are needed to raise awareness and campaign about the plight of our planet. What an extraordinary bunch.

And then there’s the campaign team, which coordinates activities and communications during the voyage. Through calm waters and nauseatingly choppy conditions, the campaigners conducted everything from daily briefings with the onshore team to daily updates for all crew to strategic actions that advanced the campaign agenda. Being a fly on the wall, watching on as this smart, capable group operates under pressure, is truly wonderful.

Brimming with inspiration from this once-in-a-lifetime experience, I disembark the Rainbow Warrior a few days later in Broome, with the pristine beauty of Cable Beach serving as another reminder of the beautiful natural world that we are lucky enough to enjoy which we must also all work together to save.

The fight against Woodside hasn’t been won yet. But everything I know about the dedicated and capable Greenpeace team, and its millions of passionate supporters—I am proud to call myself one of them—tells me that we will prevail in our pursuit for a safe future for ourselves, and future generations.

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