The environmental protection organization Greenpeace is protesting off the Wadden Sea islands of Schiermonnikoog and Borkum against the planned extraction of natural gas in the North Sea.
Five demonstrators climbed from rubber dinghies onto the drilling platform about 20 kilometres north of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog and tied themselves to its support legs, Greenpeace said on Tuesday.
Greenpeace said German and Dutch environmentalists are involved in the action. They are protesting against a planned natural gas extraction by the Dutch company One-Dyas.
Last week, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs cleared the way for more natural gas extraction in the North Sea. The environmental licence had been amended following a court ruling.
In April, an administrative court in The Hague partially ruled in favour of plaintiffs against the drilling and confirmed a construction freeze for the drilling platform.
A number of shortcomings identified by the court were then rectified. Environmental organizations from the Netherlands and Germany are to take further legal action against drilling near the Wadden Sea nature reserve.
One-Dyas plans to extract natural gas off the two North Sea islands this year, and has set up a production platform in Dutch territorial waters.