July 29 (Reuters) - Protestors rappelled off a bridge inPortland, Oregon on Wednesday hoping to delay Royal DutchShell's Arctic oil exploration this summer by blockingthe return of a ship to Alaska that holds emergency equipment.
Greenpeace said 13 protestors lowered themselves from theSt. John's bridge in the early morning and 13 others on thetraffic level of the bridge are assisting them.
"Depending on the weather they can stay there for three tofive days," said Cassady Sharp, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace,which says Arctic drilling could be damaging to populations ofwhales, polar bears and walrus if there is an oil spill.
The danglers have food and water and plan to sleep inhammocks suspended over the Willamette River, which providesshipping access to the Pacific Ocean from Portland.
The Fennica, an icebreaker Shell is leasing, was set tobegin its journey back to Alaska on Wednesday morning, theprotestors said, citing shipping charts.
The Fennica had returned to Portland in recent days forrepairs to a three foot (1 meter) gash it suffered in Alaskaearlier this month. The ship holds a capping stack, or requiredequipment that would help plug a oil well, should one blow out.
Until the Fennica returns to the Chukchi Sea off northernAlaska, Shell is not allowed to drill into the oil bearing zone,the Interior Department said last week in issuing the finalpermits for exploration. Any delays could becostly as the exploration season only lasts until about October,when sea ice returns.
President Barack Obama has tried to strike a balance in theArctic by expanding protected areas of Alaska's Arctic NationalWildlife Refuge this spring. But at the same time his InteriorDepartment is allowing Shell to return to drilling leases thecompany obtained when George W. Bush was president.
Shell said that the protestors had not delayed Fennica'sjourney back to the Arctic.
"The Fennica will begin its return journey to Alaska oncewe've completed the final preparations," spokesman Curtis Smithsaid.
Shell has spent about $7 billion to explore for oil in theArctic. It hopes to return to the exploration for the first timesince 2012, when the company experienced several mishaps,including the grounding of a drilling rig that later had to bescrapped. If Shell discovers oil that can be recoveredeconomically, production would not begin for at least 10 years. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Andrew Hay)
