This is a report from our sister paper,
the Peninsula Daily News, which is providing ongoing coverage of the Polar Pioneer’s transportation. Additional reporting from Seattle by Daniel Person and Casey Jaywork.
The towering Polar Pioneer arrived in Seattle waters Thursday after a 12-hour trip from Port Angeles.
The 355-foot-tall oil rig moved into Elliott Bay around 3:30 p.m. and could be seen from office towers, the waterfront and pretty much anywhere else with a view of Puget Sound.
It began moving out of Port Angeles Harbor at 1:40 a.m. By 4:30 a.m. the rig, ablaze with lights, and its towing vehicles passed Dungeness Spit. By 8:30 a.m. it was off Point Wilson in Port Townsend.
Moving at about 5 knots, it was accompanied by tugboats Andrew Foss, Lindsey Foss, Garth Foss and Pacific Star. Shadowing the group wasthe Coast Guard patrol boat Osprey. Law enforcement was there, in part, to keep protesters at a safe distance when the Polar Pioneer neared Seattle waters.
Kayakers protesting the rig were at the ready in Elliott Bay as it approached Terminal 5. There were no direct confrontations between protesters and the oil giant. Meanwhile, onlookers gathered along waterfront piers to get a glimpse and photograph of the mammoth piece of equipment, surrounded by what seemed an entourage of watercraft. With news helicopters flying above, the sense that a celebrity–or infamous villain–had arrived into town was complete.
Among those in a kayak Thursday afternoon was Seattle City Councilman Mike O’Brien. O’Brien said the protest was mild, though the sheer spectacle of Polar Pioneer was stunning.
When he first saw it from the kayak, “I said, ‘holy’–and then a four letter word. It’s massive, and from a kayak especially.”
He said the rig is a “monument to the hubris of the oil companies.”
Its departure was delayed by a week after Seattle Mayor Ed Murray — citing a recent Seattle Department of Planning and Development code interpretation — said May 4 that the Port of Seattle must apply for a new permit before it can host the rig at Terminal 5. However, in the end Shell came anyway, all but ignoring the city’s decision about the permit and a later request by the Port to delay its arrival.
The Port of Seattle decided earlier this year to grant a two-year, $13 million lease for terminal space to Foss Maritime.
Foss Maritime is a Seattle-based company working with Shell to prepare its fleet for an expedition to the Arctic.
The Polar Pioneer is one of two oil rigs being leased by Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company of Shell Oil Co., and slated to be used this summer for exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northern shore.
SEE ALSO: Are The Coast Guard’s Icebreakers Ready for An Arctic Oil Spill?
NEWS ANALYSIS: Yes, Seattle Burns Alaska Oil. No, The Shell Protests Aren’t Hypocritical.
