Greenpeace members motor out to greet the Rainbow Warrior III as it enters San Francisco Bay on Friday. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior III is docked in San Francisco for a week of public events, including weekend tours, a film screening and environmental education.
The ship crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge on a foggy morning last week, sailing from Vancouver, Washington, on a West Coast tour. Built in 2011, the Rainbow Warrior III is technologically more advanced than her predecessors, with a helicopter landing pad, a satellite uplink for transmitting images, and the capacity to carry advanced scientific equipment to support research at sea. The first Rainbow Warrior was bombed in 1985; the second retired two summers ago, after 22 years of service.
The third incarnation of the iconic ship boasts some new “green” features, including onboard glass recycling, biological treatment of sewage and graywater, and the use of engine heat to warm the cabins and make hot water.
While in San Francisco, crew members will hold a vigil in support of 30 passengers and crew members from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, along with two journalists, who are currently imprisoned in Russia. Russian authorities arrested them in September when Greenpeace staged a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic.
Dave the dolphin is the only thing transferred from the second Rainbow Warrior to Rainbow Warrior III. It was rumored to be a time capsule, so the crew of the new ship gently cracked it open and found necklaces and the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song encapsulated inside. The current crew then placed their own keepsakes inside, but what they are is secret. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
Andreas Sodo, the Rainbow Warrior’s third engineer, has been with Greenpeace for years. He stands with the main engine, which has the highest environmental standards (IMO Tier-II) given to engines. They use the main engine when they need to move quickly, into the wind or through a storm. The engine has a system to re-use engine heat to make the ship’s hot water. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
Myriam Fallon, who goes on some of the Rainbow Warrior’s trips, shows the room where the garbage is kept while at sea. One of the ship’s green technologies is that they have glass recycling on board as well as a trash compactor. They keep the garbage in a refrigerated unit until they reach shore. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
Myriam Fallon (left) stands with Kat Clark as they explain the advanced pilot house that they have on the new Rainbow Warrior. The ship can be turned by either a tiny steering wheel or a joystick (seen on the console). Although there are generally 16 crew members on board, it only requires two people to operate the ship. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
Crew members sit in the mess, while caterers prepare food in the galley behind. When they first began sailing the Rainbow Warrior III, crew members wondered how they were going to bring aboard the character of the previous ship. Now there are stickers, pen drawings, and crocheted handle covers throughout the new ship. Guitars hang from the ceiling. Letters from the imprisoned Arctic Sunrise crew hang on the wall. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
Sophiane Benaouda, a chef from San Francisco’s Hotel Monaco, prepares dinner in the ship’s galley for an evening event. The Rainbow Warrior caters to an international crew by offering carnivorous, vegetarian and vegan dishes for almost every meal served. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
The helicopter landing pad at the stern of the ship was covered in tables for the evening. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
The A-frame mast and sails are the greenest thing on the ship, says Erik Mekenkamb, an engineer on the Rainbow Warrior. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
A banner hanging from the side of the iconic ship calls attention to Greenpeace activists currently imprisoned in Russia. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)
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