Environmental protest forces coal ship to withdraw from Australia's largest port, 11 activists arrested.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

A large protest by climate activists took place in the waters off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday, forcing a coal ship to turn back without reaching the port of Newcastle, the country's largest coal export port. Local police announced the arrest of 11 people during the protest, accusing them of committing "crimes related to maritime activities." The obstruction came after swimmers and small boats intervened in the port's shipping channel, preventing the ship "Simec Leader" from entering the port as scheduled. A spokesperson for the Port of Newcastle confirmed that shipping traffic in general was not affected and would continue as scheduled, with the exception of this incident. For its part, the climate activist group "Rising Tide" explained that the aim of the protest was to draw attention to the environmental challenges caused by the reliance on coal as one of Australia's most important exports. The group said in a statement: "NSW Police have lost control of the shipping channel after our protest, forcing the coal ship to retreat." These protests come at a time of increasing tensions over the issue of climate change in Australia, which relies heavily on coal and iron ore as a major source of its economic revenues, amid increasing international pressure to reduce carbon emissions and move towards more sustainable energy sources.