“State-owned companies should in no way participate. This is the responsibility of the Finnish government,” says Greenpeace programme director Tapio Laakso.

Ice has retreated from northern waters owing to climate change, giving access to oil exploration in previously closed areas.

Greenpeace is campaigning for a ban on oil drilling in Arctic areas. The organisation claims wind and ice make such activities dangerous.

“In the event of an accident, an oil leak would remain under the ice and be impossible to stop,” Laakso says, adding that the use of icebreakers in protecting oil drilling shows how prone such activity is to accidents.