A total of 141 people have now been charged across the weekend.
Almost 150 people have been arrested during a weekend of climate protestors scaling and blocking ships bound for the world’s largest coal port, reported 7News.
Protesters took to Newcastle Harbour in kayaks on Saturday and Sunday as part of Rising Tide’s annual “protestival” in an attempt to stop ships from entering.
NSW Police on Sunday night revealed a total of 141 people believed to be associated with the event had been arrested over the weekend.
Of those arrested were 18 juveniles, 121 were adults charged with “various offences under the Crimes and Marine Safety Acts” and two women were arrested aboard a ship off the Newcastle coastline.
Three people were seen scaling a ship’s anchor on Sunday and unveiling a banner reading “Phase Out Coal and Gas”.
Authorities also alleged a violent assault took place at nearby Foreshore Park involving attendees, in which a 46-year-old man was hospitalised with back, arm leg and head lacerations.
A 17-year-old boy was also treated for minor lacerations, believed to have been caused by intervening in the alleged incident.
An 18-year-old man was arrested in relation to the incident and charged with two counts each of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (DV) and wound person intend to cause grievous bodily harm (DV).
He was refused bail and is expected to appear before Bail Division Court on Monday.
Rising Tide claimed a coal ship, named RAGNAR, was forced to turn around on Sunday afternoon after around 95 people in 50 kayaks blocked its path.
A coal ship was also turned around on Saturday. Earlier, three Greenpeace activists boarded a coal ship and unveiled their banner, having already written “Timeline Now” on its side in non-toxic paint.
One of the activists latched onto the ship’s anchor chain.
Mina Bui Jones, who was arrested on Saturday for swimming into the shipping lane with the intention of disrupting coal delivery, said seeing ships turned around was “empowering” and showed “people stepping up where our government is failing us”.
“It was actually beautiful to be out on the water, to see this magnificent harbour,” she said.
“It was thrilling to see the boats go back into their berth, and to know that we had prevented a coal ship from making a delivery … was thrilling and I would do it again.”
Elen O’Donnell, a Greenpeace activist and doctor who scaled the ship, said the protest effort was a peaceful yet meaningful defiance.
“We’re trying to send a message that we do not want any new coal and gas projects, and we need a timeline to phase out fossil fuels,” she said.
“We’ve been up here for a couple of hours, the workers on board have been super friendly … we’ve managed to stop the ship from entering the port for its scheduled unload of coal, and we’ll stay here as long as we can.”
NSW Police said they attempted to stop a boat that had entered its exclusion zone about 10am on Sunday, but alleged the boat failed to stop.
They said the boat collided with a police jetski after refusing to stop, although no injuries were reported.
“Police witnessed several unsafe practices on the water over the course of the event despite requests that attendees refrain from entering the harbour with the intention to obstruct users of the port,” NSW Police said.
“The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.
“However, the priority for NSW Police is always the safety of the wider community and there will be zero tolerance for illegal and dangerous behaviour.”
A series of events have run alongside the protests, including speeches, workshops and live music headlined by Australian indie pop act Lime Cordiale.
Newcastle City Council defended its decision to approve the festive events alongside the protests.
Newcastle is the world’s largest coal export port, sending 150 million tonnes offshore annually, mostly to East Asia.
