COPENHAGEN, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A Greenland court on Mondayfined Greenpeace over $26,000 for disrupting oil drilling offthe island's coast, the latest chapter in the environmentalgroup's fight to stop industrial development in the Arctic.
Greenpeace activists boarded or tried to board anexploration rig belonging to Cairn Energy three times in2011. The Edinburgh-based company drilled five prospective wellsthat year but none found commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.
Greenpeace's campaigns in the Arctic have run into troublewith authorities several times in recent years. In April,campaigners boarded a Royal Dutch Shell drilling rigpreparing to head to the Arctic.
The activists believe an oil spill would damage the Arcticenvironment. Oil companies argue they have extremely detailedmitigation plans should anything go wrong on drilling rigs.
Many Greenlanders disapprove of Greenpeace because of itscampaigns against seal and whale hunting, two activities key tothe economy and cultural traditions of the 56,000-strong nation.
Autonomous within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland becomefinancially independent if oil were discovered and manyGreenlanders support drilling there.
($1 = 6.6813 Danish crowns) (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
