Peter Willcox

Peter Henry Willcox (born March 6, 1953 ) is an American activist for the environmental protection organization Greenpeace . He became known as the captain of the Greenpeace ships Rainbow Warrior and Arctic Sunrise .

Life

Willcox is the son of Eleanor Sharpe, but was adopted by Elsie and Roger Willcox and grew up in Norwalk . His adoptive father was a harbor master and awakened a passion for sailing in him.

Willcox began his environmental commitment in 1972 on the Slup Clearwater , a ship belonging to the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. Pete Seeger co-founded this environmental protection organization to protect the Hudson River and its wetlands . After four years he became the captain of the Clearwater. After another four years he switched to the research ship Regina Maris .

In 1981 Willcox joined Greenpeace after reading the book "Warriors of the Rainbow: A Chronicle of the Greenpeace Movement" by Robert Hunter . He soon rose to Greenpeace and became captain of the Rainbow Warrior .

He took part in campaigns against whaling , against nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands , against the destruction of primeval forests , and against trawling .

On July 10, 1985, the Rainbow Warrior - whose captain was Peter Willcox - was blown up in the port of Auckland by the French secret service , whereby the photographer Fernando Pereira was killed. The story of this assassination attempt was made into a film under the title Attack on the Rainbow Warrior , with Jon Voight playing the role of Peter Willcox.

While working for Greenpeace, Willcox was imprisoned in Turkey , the Philippines , Denmark , Peru and Russia .

On September 19, 2013, Willcox was arrested as captain of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise with his crew in Russia because an attempt had been made to occupy the Priraslomnaja oil platform of the Russian state company Gazprom in the Pechora Sea - in international waters. This was intended to protest against oil drilling in an ecologically sensitive area. Willcox was first accused of piracy and threatened with 15 years in prison. On November 20, 2013 - after international protests - his release was announced.

Since February 2014 Willcox has been the captain of the new ship Rainbow Warrior . The English newspaper The Observer honored Willcox with the Observer Ethical Award 2014 for his lifetime achievement in June 2014 .

The ships

The Clearwater Slope

The research ship Regina Maris

Rainbow Warrior

Artic Sunrise

Rainbow Warrior III

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ The captain of the "Arctic Sunrise" is free at www.tagesschau.de ( Memento from November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

personal data
SURNAME	Willcox, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Willcox, Peter Henry (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American activist of the environmental protection organization Greenpeace
DATE OF BIRTH	March 6, 1953

[1] The captain of the "Arctic Sunrise" is free at www.tagesschau.de ( Memento from November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )