Greenpeace and kayaktivists blockade a Shell Oil Arctic drilling support ship under a Portland bridge — Tank Man meets Cirque du Soleil. 36 hours later, authorities open the way and the Fennica leaves for Arctic drill site.
Thirteen Greenpeace climbers hanging on ropes from a bridge, along with hundreds of men, women and children in kayaks and small boats on the Willamette River below, bottled up the crucial Shell Oil icebreaker MSV Fennica for 36 hours, June 29th and 30th, delaying its departure from Portland Oregon after repairs in a dry dock.
The ship is required by Federal regulation to be present at the Arctic Ocean drilling site before Shell can drill into oil-bearing strata 80 miles west of Alaska. The ship suffered a gash in its hull in the Aleutian Islands in mid July, and came south to Portland for dry dock repairs. Climate activists and opponents of Arctic oil drilling saw a choke point where the 170 foot high ship would have to pass under the 205 foot clearance of the St John’s bridge as it left Portland harbor.
In a coordinated action which made one think of both the Tiananmen Square Tank Man and Cirque du Soleil, the Greenpeace climbers rappelled down from the bridge in pre-dawn darkness, hanging low enough to be a human block of the ship. Later they unfurled long yellow and red streamers from their ropes into the brilliant sunlight. The climbers had hammocks and supplies for 3-4 days, Greenpeace spokespeople said. In the days before this, local groups assisted by kayaktivists from Seattle had organized hundreds of people to launch more than 70 canoes and other small craft to paddle out into the channel to challenge the ship. Many “kayaktivists” said they were prepared to paddle into the path of the icebreaker, risking arrest.
After delaying its announced departure for a day, the Fennica, accompanied by Coast Guard boats, came down the river to the bridge at dawn July 30, faced off with the Greenpeace climbers and kayaktivists, and then turned back to a dock. The demonstrators were jubilant, but the Coast Guard and local police gave warning the protesters were breaking the law by occupying the bridge and trying to block ship passage in the river. The activists allowed all other river traffic to pass without delay — and awaited the Fennica.
About 12 hours later, police and Coast Guard boats moved into the river, pushing the kayaks toward the north bank. Most of the 70 or so small craft obeyed orders to move out of the ship channel, but others resisted or tried to paddle around police. It appeared from the shore that some of the Coast Guard officers were the most impatient, sometimes physically pushing kayaks, poking and pulling with gaff hooks. About 12 water protesters were detained, according to reports.
Meanwhile above on the bridge, the Greenpeace teams were notified that they were in violation of a Federal order to stay a kilometer from any Shell Oil operation, and faced arrest on local charges for blocking Shell’s ship. A Portland police mountaineering rescue team was assembled. Some of them rappelled down among three of the Greenpeace climbers, not touching their main support ropes but cutting lines that the climbers had strung between themselves as part of their barrier. They got two of the hanging Greenpeace activists to voluntarily rappel down to waiting boats. A third Greenpeace climber refused to move, so the Police climbers attached their rope to his and lowered him down, banner and all. The remaining 10 climbers remained in place hanging from the bridge.
The removal of the three Greenpeace climbers cleared the way for the Fennica to slowly move under the bridge. But as she did more than 20 kayakers and several small boats defied the police boats and paddled nearly underneath the flaring blue hull of the 381 foot icebreaker. Police boats sped around trying to keep the way clear, crashing into at least one kayak. The ship moved slowly, but did not stop for the kayaks. Protesters on the water later told reporters they felt the ship should not have been allowed to move with protesters so close. At just before 6 pm on the second day of the blockade, the icebreaker slid under the St Johns bridge and accelerated with a plume of black exhaust, leaving the kayaks behind.
Only two people were arrested; most of those detained were released at the scene. One man was arrested for locking himself to a railroad bridge near the harbor in an attempt to keep it from opening for the Fennica. A kayaker who police said resisted arrest was also charged.
Shell has announced it has started drilling the top part of a new well in the Chukchi Sea. The Fennica could reach the drill site 2600 nautical miles from Portland before mid-August. The federally-required well safety capping stack which she carried to Portland and back will mean that Shell can ask for final Federal approval to actually drill into assumed oil-bearing strata beneath the Arctic Ocean floor. This will be the first oil drilling in the American Arctic Ocean. If given approval, Shell has only until late September to complete work before ice may begin forming again.
The point of this dramatic protest was not just to delay Shell but to dramatize the issue. Greenpeace’s climbers and the Northwest’s kayaktivists sparked discussion and publicity around the world. The St John’s bridge is one of the most beautiful suspension bridges in the world, with its 400 foot towers having a gothic cathedral design, making the protest site all the more visual. Signs carried by some of the climbers beneath the bridge span were explicit: Save the Arctic. President Obama, Last Chance to stop the drilling.
Here are more images of the protests of Shell Arctic drilling, beginning with the flotilla of kayaks and large protest signs which met the Fennica at the Vigor Industrial dry dock on July 25, and the aerial and river borne blockade at Portland’s St John’s Bridge.
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