Entrances to a seaport terminal in Seattle were blocked on Monday as protesters standing against oil-drilling in the Arctic made themselves heard.
Seattle is where Royal Dutch Shell’s massive floating drill rig will be loaded up before heading to the waters off Alaska this summer.
READ MORE: Shell clears major U.S. government hurdle for Arctic drilling
Protesters holding banners and flags marched across a bridge to Terminal 5, temporarily closing the road during Monday morning’s commute. Once at the terminal, they spread out across the entrances.
Organisers say they plan to engage in civil disobedience to stop work on the rig, the latest protest of the 400-foot Polar Pioneer drill rig in Seattle. Shell hopes to use the rig to explore for oil off Alaska’s northwest coast.
Activists said they were concerned about the risk of an oil spill in the remote Arctic waters and the effects that tapping new frontiers of oil and gas reserves will have on global warming.
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