Opponents of the plan for Shell’s Arctic fleet to use part of the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 plan two events in West Seattle this weekend:
SUNDAY ‘ENCOURAGEMENT’ MARCH UPDATE: That’s the map for Sunday’s rally/march from The Junction to Terminal 5, dubbed by organizers as a Port Encouragement Rally – encouraging the Port of Seattle to cancel the T-5 lease for Shell vessels/equipment intended for Arctic drilling. We published the original announcement back on Monday. It starts at Walk-All-Ways (California/Alaska) at 1 pm Sunday; the march will be “using sidewalks and obeying pedestrian traffic laws,” says the update from Stu Hennessey, which also notes:
This March is sponsored by the Green Party of Seattle and is supported by Greenpeace, 350.org, Backbone, West Seattle Meaningful Movies and the citizens of West Seattle. Speakers from the Green Party, Sustainable West Seattle and 350.org will address the crowd as they gather at the entrance of West Seattle’s Terminal 5.
Also noted in the update – Sunday’s march will be discussed at the West Seattle Meaningful Movies gathering this Saturday night, 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center.
KAYAK ‘FLOTILLA’ – SATURDAY TRAINING: Opponents of the lease warned at the last Port Commission meeting March 24th (WSB coverage here) that the presence of Shell vessels/rigs here would result in a “long, hot summer” of demonstrations. In addition to Sunday’s rally/march, plans for a “flotilla” are taking shape, and the coalition organizing it is planning training sessions at Alki Kayak Tours in West Seattle. The first one is scheduled for 10 am-12:30 pm tomorrow.
WHEN DOES THE ‘FLEET” ARRIVE? No timeline has been announced for expected arrivals – the chair of Foss‘s parent company Saltchuk, Mark Tabbutt, told the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce yesterday morning (WSB coverage here) that the platform Polar Pioneer is indeed headed this way. (Here are its specs, including a 17-story-high derrick; not as high as the SBX radar platform that was here four years ago. It was built by Hitachi Zosen, also known in these parts for building the Highway 99 tunneling machine “Bertha.”) It’s on board a “deck cargo” ship called Blue Marlin, which is still out of MarineTraffic.com-tracking range but filed a plan with estimated arrival in the Port Angeles vicinity around April 12th. Greenpeace is following the Polar Pioneer/Blue Marlin across the Pacific with its boat Esperanza.
Northward bound, @Shell’s vessel just changed course https://t.co/lk8jjcWi7O #thecrossing #savethearctic pic.twitter.com/DzHQhyjjF9
— Greenpeace Esperanza (@gp_espy) March 31, 2015
That same Greenpeace boat was here in 2012 while part of Shell’s fleet was at Vigor.
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