On the Greenpeace Ship in Hurghada, Sara Abu Bakr finds out that hope really does float "Bliss," says Lama Abdul-Samad, Mediterranean action coordinator, describing the docking of the Greenpeace ship Esperanza -- the name is Spanish for "hope" -- at the Hurghada Tourist Port last week. Refitted in 2002 by the well-known environmental agency, the 72-metre long Russian vessel, originally crafted as a firefighter, had the slogan "Defend Our Oceans" in bold letters across its sides. Equipped with webcam among other state- of-the-art technologies, the Esperanza made it possible for cyber activists to follow her 14-month journey, with Azores University naturalists recording some of the least known marine life at depths of up to 700 metres. Setting sail on 18 November 2005, at Cape Town, South Africa, the aim of the Esperanza was to put pressure on governments to declare 40 per cent of the seas as ocean parks -- marine reserves in which fishing is prohibited to endorse biodiversity. With the commercial requirements of the contemporary world, however, such a goal is well nigh impossible to meet. According to Basma Badran, Mediterranean communication officer, "we have to start working immediately. Over-fishing, waste disposal and pollution will eventually ruin the Earth's ecosystems, harming humans..." Indeed according to the latest report by Greenpeace, Marine Reserves for the Mediterranean Sea, countries that have implemented the marine reserve programme have seen greater numbers of fish species, populations and stocks outside the reserves. As Badran puts it, "it allows the ocean to breathe." The Mediterranean Sea is itself a hotspot due to its incredible biodiversity despite a relatively limited size: "The Mediterranean makes up one per cent of the world's seas while being home to nine per cent of the world's marine life." With the preservation of marine life as its goal, the Esperanza hosts a regular crew of 19 activists and volunteers and can accommodate up to 40 people on board. The crew encompasses some 17 nationalities led by the Dutch Captain Frank Kemp, who found crossing the Suez Canal to be the toughest part of the journey so far: "The amount of red tape and permits needed were astounding." Established by Johann Vifian and a multinational team of divers in 1991 with the aim of preserving life in the Red Sea, it was the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) that saved the day. Vifian, who first came to Egypt in 1985, explained how they assisted Greenpeace through "the tricky part" of obtaining permits: "We followed all the procedures required and even talked to the governor." In the light of Egyptian security laws, which do not provide for ships docking and receiving visitors for no purpose other than a tour, it was "a feat". Yet HEPCA had had plenty of experience in Egypt. The organisation's work in the Red Sea is innovative and effective: they have replaced boat anchors that destroy corals with mooring buoys replace, undertaken skipper training sessions and introduced the Qusair Charter, a declaration to protect the environment. HEPCA welcomed the Greenpeace initiative as "a good promotion" to help enhance its reputation, though it still insisted on the signing of a document to ensure that the Esperanza would do nothing to harm the environment. At Port Said, four Egyptian volunteers spent four days aboard the Esperanza, which according to Mohamed Hassan, one of them, "passed very quickly". All agreed that the experience was "unique". As Ahmed Shaneb, another volunteer explained, "life on a ship is different: the chores, the commitment, the framework and definitely the people. People from different nationalities who barely knew each other could work as a team, which was facilitated all the more by the fact that we all have a common goal." Greenpeace views cultural diversity as an efficient way of spreading the message among people across the world. That said, Hassan added that life on the sea makes for its own difficulties: "Missing your family is the main problem, but with the new telecommunications devices it's much easier to hear their voices." Following Greenpeace's 2005 fiasco in Egypt, when the sailboat Anna was blocked by authorities in Alexandria on its way to the Nile -- bureaucracy and miscommunication were held responsible -- the Esperanza's presence in Egypt is all the greater a victory. Erkut, a Turkish activist, recalls, "my best memory is of stopping a shipment of toxic water from being burnt in an incinerator [which make it even more toxic] in Stockholm. Following 48-hour demonstrations, we managed to force the government to send it back to Holland [where it would be appropriately discarded]." Such triumphs mean a lot to activists, and sidestepping Egyptian bureaucracy is as such cause for celebration. The Esperanza is currently on its way to India to continue its campaign, its journey expected to end early in 2007 in Sydney. With all that besets the world in the way of poverty and disasters, it might seem strange that people should risk their lives to protect the environment. Yet as any member of the Esperanza crew will tell you, "life is a cycle. You can't separate humans from the environment. Eventually our mistakes must catch up with us and the next generations are the ones who will pay the price."
