The eight appeared in Auckland District Court for sentencing today over the incident aboard the Noble Discoverer.
Lawless, Jan Raoni Hammer, Mike Ross Buchanan, Shayne Panayiotis Comino, Vivienne Rachel Hadlow, Shai Sebastian Naides, Zach Steven Penman and Ilai Amir were initially charged with burglary but this was today amended to unlawfully being on a ship.
The charges came after the group boarded the Noble Discoverer at the port in February and spent 77 hours up a 58m tower.
Greenpeace said the group boarded the Shell-contracted ship to prevent it heading to the Chukchi Sea, off the coast of Alaska, to drill three exploratory oil wells.
The eight appeared in the dock together and stood quietly as their lawyer Ron Mansfield entered the pleas on their behalf.
He asked that no conviction be formally entered yet to allow the possibility of a discharge without conviction.
They were bailed to reappear in New Plymouth District Court on September 14.
