New Zealanders launched a protest against the deep-sea oil drilling of Anadarko Petroleum off the North Island's west coast. Protest boats closed in on the Anadarko's drilling vessel, the Noble Bob Douglas.

Anadarko had planned to begin drilling operations 185 kilometres off the coast of Raglan but it was blocked by six vessels in protest. One protest ship, the Vega, still remains within the exclusion zone of 500 metres.

The protesters on board the ship include Greenpeace New Zealand chief executive Bunny McDiarmid and Jeanette Fitzsimmons, a former co-leader for the Green Party.

According to Anadarko, the presence of the protest boats within the drilling zone will not stop the operations. Greenpeace spokesman Steve Abel said he did not believe the operations will continue. Mr Abel said Anadarko's ship arrived on Nov. 19 to begin drilling but the ship hadn't started since then.

Mr Abel believes the presence of the protest ship is preventing the company from drilling. He said Maritime New Zealand has yet to contact Greenpeace about the protest ship.

Contrary to Mr Abel's statements, Andarko New Zealand Corporate Affairs Manager Alan Seay said the company's drilling vessel was ready to begin despite the protests. The drilling will begin on Nov. 28.

Over 3,000 New Zealanders went to the beaches from Muriwai to Wanganui to protest deep-sea oil drilling in the nation's waters.

The Labour party has accused the New Zealand government of deliberately withholding information about the risks of deep-sea oil drilling off the Kaikoura coast. According to Labour leader David Cunliffe, documents have surfaced, indicating Environment Minister Amy Adams had secretly kept the risks from going public to protect Anadarko's proposed oil-drilling site.

Mr Cunliffe said the probability of risks appear to increase dramatically the deeper the drilling gets. He accused Ms Adams of taking great measures to keep the information from leaking to the public. She had told New Zealand Parliament that there was a little risk of a large-scale oil spill from happening.

Mr Cunliffe challenged the government to be honest in giving out information about deep-sea oil drilling since those living in Kaikoura and the general public is having serious reservations on Anadarko's operations.

RELATED STORIES