Greenpeace climbers leave Shell's Arctic-bound oil rig
PACIFIC OCEAN -- The six climbers who intercepted, scaled and set up camp on an Arctic-bound oil rig in the Pacific came down on Saturday, after spending almost a week on the 38,000 tonne platform.
The multi-national team of volunteers abseiled off the rig and into inflatable boats, before returning to the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, which has been stationed close by for the last week.
The team camped on the Polar Pioneer for six days and shared GoPro videos, tweets and live interviews from the rig.
On Wednesday, Shell requested a temporary restraining order from a U.S. federal court in Alaska to remove the six from the Polar Pioneer. Greenpeace had acclaimed that the U.S. does not have jurisdiction as the rig is in international waters. On Friday, a federal judge in Anchorage declined to rule immediately on Shell's request, saying she would make a decision in one or two days.
However, worsening weather conditions at sea, which could bring swells of up to 7 m, made the six climbers leave the rig before any ruling.
The Polar Pioneer, which is being transported on a 712-ft long heavy-lift vessel called Blue Marlin, is one of two rigs heading towards the Arctic for Shell this year.
The second, the Noble Discoverer, is one of the oldest drillships in the world. In December 2014, Noble Drilling, one of Shell鈥檚 biggest Arctic sub-contractors and the owner of the Noble Discoverer, pleaded guilty to committing eight felonies in connection with Shell鈥檚 failed attempts to drill in the Arctic Ocean in 2012.
Both the Polar Pioneer and 迟丑别听Noble Discoverer听are crossing the Pacific and are expected to arrive in Seattle before heading to the Chukchi Sea. Shell intends to use the port of Seattle as a base for the company鈥檚 Arctic fleet.
The 35-person crew on board the Esperanza has tailed the Polar Pioneer for more than 7,000 nautical miles, since it left Brunei Bay in Malaysia.