Deep sea miners have turned water hoses on Greenpeace activists attempting to block their prospecting in the Pacific Ocean, according to footage released by the NGO.
For the past week, an international team of Greenpeace activists have been using canoes and dinghies to obstruct the Coco, a deep sea mining exploration vessel, as it collects data to file for a mining permit for waters between Mexico and Hawaii.
On Friday, after a Dutch court largely refused an application by miners to stop the protests, sailors on board the Coco appeared to turn hoses on the activists.
The Coco is operated by a subsidiary of Canadian-based mining company The Metals Company, which has been conducting exploratory research in the Clarion Clipperton zone of the Pacific since 2011. They say data from their latest expedition will be used in an application to begin mining in the area in 2025.
But opponents of deep sea mining, among them two dozen governments, including Mexico, say too little is known about its potential environmental impacts to go ahead safely, and have called for a moratorium on any licensing.
Greenpeace activists from Mexico, Argentina, Norway, South Korea, Poland and the UK have been protesting against the Coco since 23 November, carrying out sorties in canoes launched from the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace ship, to stop the Coco's crew from deploying equipment.
The Metals Company sought an injunction in the Netherlands to force protesters to stay 500 metres from the Coco. But in a summary ruling, Amsterdam district court said protests could continue around the ship.
Greenpeace called the ruling "a massive setback for the deep sea mining industry". "We are determined to keep bringing this dangerous industry to public attention and will continue to disrupt this dangerous industry," said Mads Christensen, head of Greenpeace International.
Gerard Barron, executive chair of The Metals Company, said the company would "continue to gather the important scientific data" for members of the International Seabed Authority.