Greenpeace volunteers are heading to a Shell drilling platform 65 kilometres west of Vancouver Island.
Indigenous and environmental activists left the Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza today in inflatable boats to meet up with the Polar Pioneer, a large drilling rig heading north to explore for oil in Alaska.
“We can’t just sit idly by as Shell sails past us, past 7 million people who oppose their plans, past logic and science and decency to risk everything because their greed knows no bounds,” said Musqueam First Nation activist Audrey Siegl in a statement.
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“We are determined to hold our ground, but if they do get past us, if they do drill the Arctic — they will not do it quietly or with our consent. These are our waters, our lands, our life they are risking. If they’re going to do this, they’ll have to push past us.”
READ MORE: Greenpeace activists abandon Shell Arctic drill rig after six-day stay
The 400-foot drill rig was loaded up in Seattle this month, after getting approval from the the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for an exploration plan in the Chukchi Sea. They plan to drill up to six wells within the Burger Prospect, located about 110 kilometres northwest of the village of Wainwright, Alaska. The wells would be drilled in about 140 feet of water by the Polar Pioneer and the Noble Discoverer. Both vessels would provide relief-well capability for the other.
Protesters in kayaks attempted to prevent the rig from leaving Seattle last weekend, but it left on Monday, after 24 people were detained and fined $500 for violating a court-imposed safety zone.
– With files from The Associated Press
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