Six activists from Greenpeace boarded Shell’s oil drilling ship last Monday that was operating in the Pacific Ocean, The activists vowed to stay aboard the ship to protest Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic.
The Royal Dutch Shell did confirm that the activists illegally boarded Shell’s drilling ship, the Polar Pioneer, 750 miles of Hawaii’s northwest last Monday morning. Shell called it a “stunt” as it jeopardizes the lives of the activists themselves and the crew.
A spokeswoman from Greenpeace, Cassady Sharp, stated to KTUU, an NBC station from Alaska, that the activists had enough supplies to stay atop the ship until the Port of Seattle is reached, which signed the lease for the company’s Arctic drilling fleet.
Sharp stated that they are going to stay as long as it is needed, and the activists are not going to interfere in the actual drilling process, but just making their presence known.
The main goal of the Greenpeace activists plans to plant a giant flag that indicates millions of names of individuals who condone drilling in the Arctic.
The administration upheld Shell’s 2008 lease for Arctic drilling rights last week, and it is expected that the Interior Department will approve Shell’s drilling plan by April’s end.