MOSCOW -- Russian investigators say they have charged the entire crew of a Greenpeace ship with piracy for a protest at a Russian oil platform in the Arctic.

The crew includes two Canadians, Alexandre Paul of Montreal and Paul Ruzycki of Port Colborne, Ont.

The Investigative Committee said in a statement that the piracy charge, which can result in a 15-year prison term upon conviction, was filed today against 16 members of the crew, including a prominent Russian freelance photographer.

The crew's other 14 members were similarly charged Wednesday.

The Russian Coast Guard seized the Greenpeace ship and all the people it was carrying following the Sept. 18 protest at the offshore platform owned by Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom.

The activists are now in custody in the northern city of Murmansk.

Greenpeace denies any wrongdoing and describes the charges as absurd.

Activists from Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden were among 30 people who were on board the Greenpeace ship.