In April 1995, Greenpeace boarded a Shell oil platform named Brent Spar in the North Sea to protest its scheduled disposal in the Atlantic. This action took the operator Shell Expro (a joint venture between Shell and Esso) totally by surprise, as this was the first protest of any kind that Shell management had encountered. Describes the circumstances why Shell wants the Brent Spar platform's disposal in the deep sea and why Greenpeace rejects these plans.

The protest of Greenpeace against the deep sea disposal of the Brent Spar led to a major consumer boycott against Shell. Within weeks, Shell suffered a significant loss of market share in Central Europe and faced protests from the highest political leaders across Europe. Despite all this, Shell continues to tow the platform to its planned disposal site in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, strong fights are taking place at sea between Shell and Greenpeace.

The board of directors of the Shell/Royal Dutch Corp. decided to discontinue the Brent Spar sea disposal. Nevertheless, the scientific debate about Shell's plans and Greenpeace's protests isn't over yet.