PORTLAND, Ore., (Reuters) – Greenpeace protesters dangling from a bridge in Portland, Oregon, yesterday forced back an icebreaker that Royal Dutch Shell needs in Alaska to start drilling in the Arctic, as a U.S. judge ordered the group to pay daily fines starting at $2,500 per hour.
The 13 Greenpeace protesters, who rappelled down from the bridge over the Willamette River on Wednes-day, are hoping to shorten Shell’s Arctic drilling season by stopping the Fennica icebreaker, which is carrying emergency equipment that would cap any blown-out well.
Shell is not allowed to start drilling without it and the drilling season ends in October, when sea ice forms.Greenpeace says Arctic drilling could be damaging to populations of whales, polar bears and walrus in the event of an oil spill.
Greenpeace is the latest group to stage demonstrations over the past three months in a bid to block Shell vessels from heading north from Pacific Northwest ports.
The Fennica stalled once it neared the St. John’s bridge on the Willamette, which leads to the Pacific Ocean. Protesters dangling from ropes with large red and yellow banners, at times chanting “Shell No”, prevented the ship from passing under the span, forcing the vessel back to port.
“When that ship turned, that was history,” kayaker Michael Foster told Reuters.
A Coast Guard official told reporters the Fennica now wanted to depart later on Thursday afternoon.
Later on Thursday, a firefighter descended from the bridge and slashed part of a rope linking protesters, local broadcast footage showed. A few minutes later, two activists lowered themselves down from the bridge toward a boat and were arrested, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Steve Alexander said.
