SYDNEY - Greenpeace protesters daubed an anti-coal slogan in white letters on a coal ship on Sunday in a protest on climate change to mark the opening of a regional summit in Sydney, a spokesman said.
They also unfurled a banner in Chinese warning Beijing to beware of the intentions on climate change of Australia and the United States, which have both refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
Eleven protesters were arrested afterwards and were being detained at a police station in the coaling port of Newcastle, north of Sydney, with charges of malicious damage expected to be laid, Greenpeace said.
The NSS Endeavour was loading up with coal for export to Japan, the largest buyer of Australian coal, when the protest happened around dawn, the group said.
The words "Australia pushing export coal" were painted on its side in two-metre high white letters.
The protest was timed to coincide with the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economist Cooperation (APEC) forum meetings in Sydney, and Greenpeace promised further protests during the week-long event.
Local police carried out the arrests, but a specialist APEC security unit then took over, Greenpeace spokesman Ben Pearson said.
"Australia's climate policy is to push export coal and to hell with the consequences for the planet," he said in a statement.
"Real action on climate change means moving away from coal and shifting to clean, renewable energy and we don't have the luxury of time for expensive talkfests that have no concrete outcomes."
Pearson said the paint was a clay-based paint which could be expected to wash off as the ship left the harbour.
Police confirmed 11 arrests of people "alleged to be affiliated with the Greenpeace activists group" and said four inflatable vessels had also been seized.
Greenpeace said that during APEC week, Australia will export more than four million tonnes of coal, resulting in over 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
This represented an impact on climate change during the week of 1.2 billion Australian dollars (979,000 US), the group said, accusing Prime Minister John Howard of seeking to wreck the Kyoto Protocol in order to sustain Australian coal exports.
09/02/2007 02:26 GMT