14 protesting Arctic drilling seized on rig

STOCKHOLM - Police have arrested 14 Greenpeace activists who climbed aboard an oil rig off Greenland's coast to protest deepwater drilling in the Arctic.

Four Greenpeace members were still onboard the Leiv Eiriksson oil rig, where they had locked themselves into two crane cabins, police and the environmental group said Saturday.

The rig is operated by the Scottish oil group Cairn Energy, which has temporarily suspended its drilling due to the protest.

Police spokesman Morten Nielsen said those arrested would be taken to Nuuk, the semiautonomous Danish territory's capital, and kept in detention.

The activists launched five inflatable boats from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza early Saturday, and scaled the giant rig to demand that the company publish its plan for managing a potential spill.

Greenpeace says Cairn Energy is not taking enough precautions to avoid accidents like BP's Gulf of Mexico blowout. Cairn insists that Greenland authorities have established stringent operating regulations similar to those in effect in the North Sea.