Danish police arrested Thursday 29 Greenpeace activists who blocked a Panama-flagged ship from unloading its coal cargo in a protest against fuel's harmful effect on the climate. Around 20 activists tied themselves to a coal conveyor belt while eight others spent the night on one of two giant cranes at a coal plant in southwestern Denmark, Christina Koll of Greenpeace told AFP.

The action was "to protest the use of polluting coal in Denmark, a country that prides itself in spearheading the fight for the environment," she said.

Local police spokeswoman Helle Lunberg said 29 people, including 10 women, were detained Thursday, while two others were arrested Wednesday. They were charged with trespassing.

Those arrested, who were from Denmark, Germany, Finland, Sweden and Poland, were to be released after being held for six hours, she said.

Greenpeace says the Enstedvaerket plant which is owned by Danish state company DONG Energy burns 800,000 tonnes of coal every year, producing 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, a gas contributing to global warming.

According to Greenpeace, Denmark, a country of just 5.5 million inhabitants, is the world's fifth largest importer of coal, importing and burning 8.3 tonnes of the fuel on average every year, and causing 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Greenpeace action began on Tuesday when activists unsuccessfully tried to board the 300-metre (985-foot) Hanjin Imbari in the Baltic Sea as it carried a load of South African coal to the Enstedvaerket coal plant in Aabenraa in southwestern Denmark.

The action intentionally coincided with this week's United Nations climate talks in Poznan, Poland, as well as with European Union negotiations on legislation to combat global warming, Greenpeace said.

(AFP, 04/12/2008)