The speedboats limped past the media centre at the G8 summit under German police escort after a chase worthy of a James Bond movie.

I sat on the wide balcony of the centre at the G8 summit, with a glorious view over the Baltic Sea on a bright sunny day, as the Greenpeace inflatables were accompanied away.

The only problem was that I was meant to be listening to a news conference by Greenpeace and other environmental groups telling us about their hopes for the summit.

Most of us were instead craning our necks past the speakers, as they called for tougher cuts in greenhouse gases, to see the speedboats.

Two had just been rammed by police boats after they breached a security zone and were intercepted after dodging and weaving in vain in a high-speed chase. Three activists were injured. Watch the video
The environmental groups had to organise their news conference on the balcony because they don’t have rooms indoors, reserved for the media and delegations.

It’s airier outside and swallows swoop in and out of their nests, built in the roof of a Dutch-built building that is in fact a giant wooden and plastic tent.

So, a note to anyone organising a news conference — don’t do it when your colleagues are doing something more exciting in the background.