Greenpeace Stops Ship In France

Greenpeace activists prevented a ship from unloading U.S. genetically modified soybeans on Monday, but allowed a batch of traditional soybeans to be brought ashore, Reuters reported. The freighter Polidefkis P. arrived at this southwestern port city early in the day carrying a 22,000-ton cargo of oilseeds from New Orleans. Militants from the Greenpeace environmentalist group at first tried to stop the boat from docking but later relented amid fears the Greek-registered ship might run aground at low tide. Around 40 activists then prevented the unloading of the cargo by taking over two port cranes. They only let some of the oilseeds off after being told they did not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). "We have allowed the unloading of two of the four containers on the cargo ship because we have guarantees, with documents to back this up, that the soybeans in them are not genetically modified," said Arnaud Apoteker, head of the Greenpeace action. Greenpeace activists then chained themselves to the ship's bridge to prevent the modified soybeans being lifted ashore.