Update 3:55
Stu Hennesey, owner of Alki Bike and Board and a member of ShellNo.org reacted to the arrival of the Polar Pioneer saying, ""Shell Oil has the wealth to dominate this conversation. The people who oppose risking further damage to the Arctic and are concerned about the carbon release from Shell Oils unilateral persistence to exploit the Arctic region do not have many options other than public demonstrations of opposition."

Shell Oil has flown people from Alaska in to attend meetings that are meant to focus on the issue of storing this Arctic drilling equipment in West Seattle.

In 1993 I helped to form a committee called Greater Harbor 2000 that made public agreements with the Port of Seattle to acquire the vacated public space to create Terminal 5. The agreement then was to have a container storage and shipping Terminal. You can see this change of use is a breech of trust."

Update 3:30:
Protesters on land and water with signs, so far peaceful.

Update 2:06 p.m.:
The Polar Pioneer has begun to make its way past Discovery Point.

This story will be updated regularly by Tim Clifford and David Rosen throughout the afternoon

Leaving Port Angeles around 2 a.m. this morning the Polar Pioneer made its way down towards Seattle while being escorted by the coast guard. Standing 307 feet tall, with a width of 292 feet and a length of 400 feet the massive vessel has made steady progress at 6.6 knots an hour and is set to arrive at Terminal 5 before 2 p.m.

Originally the vessel was scheduled to dock before 5 p.m. but picked up speed on its course and is scheduled to arrive sooner than expected.

With the arrival of the arctic drilling rig a few Alki businesses have found themselves heading the charge with local protesters. The term “kayaktivist” has been gaining traction thanks to the efforts of the group sHELLNO whose protesters will be sporting kayaks provided by Alki Kayak Tours and Adventure Center.

The West Seattle Herald reached out to Greg Whittaker, co-owner of the adventure shop with his wife Kara, to ask about today’s protests.

“We were approached by sHELLNO to provide kayaks for a public demonstration. We are an organization which won’t discriminate, so we are here to safely put people on the water to legally express their opinions,” said Whittaker.

When asked if he carried any opinions regarding the Foss lease and the Polar Pioneer’s landing in Seattle Whittaker explained “Given Shell’s safety record the potential for an oil spill at the mouth of the Duwamish scares me.”

Throughout the day Whittaker and his team will be on the water providing an extra eye for protester safety and to ensure that their kayaks aren’t confiscated if any protesters are arrested.

Reaching out to Mayor Ed Murray’s office the West Seattle Herald managed to speak with Press Secretary Jason Kelly concerning the Polar Pioneer’s arrival.

“The Mayor did commend the Port for the vote they took to direct their CEO to tell Foss and Shell that the offshore drilling rig should not come to the port during this period that the city has told the port the appropriate permits are not in place,” he said.

When asked where the Mayor planned to be as the Pioneer docked an answer was not available at this time.

Considering the panic and controversy it has garnered in Seattle one would be forgiven for confusing the giant vessel with Godzilla. Much like cinema’s atomic monster this behemoth has come to represent the regrettable and devastating side of man’s nature. In this case: environmental destruction by means of arctic oil drilling.

On May 3, during a breakfast fundraiser for Clean Solutions, Mayor Ed Murray announced the findings of an investigation conducted by the Dept. of Planning and Development into the Foss lease with the Port of Seattle. According to the mayor the lease with Foss violated the terms of the land-use permit that the Port of Seattle has held with the City of Seattle since the 90’s and that the Port would need to seek a new permit before any Shell vessels moored at Terminal 5.

“I expect the Port to obtain all required city permits before any moorage or work begins at T5 on off-shore drilling equipment. While requiring a new permit may not stop the port’s plans, it does give the port the opportunity to pause and rethink this issue,” said Mayor Murray.

Last Tuesday, May 12 the Port Commission gathered for a hearing at Pier 69 at 1 p.m. to discuss the Mayor’s announcement. After a lengthy bout of Public Comments the Port Commissioners (minus Courtney Gregoire who was dealing with medical issues related to her pregnancy) voted unanimously to appeal the City’s decision concerning the land use permit and to ask Foss to delay the arrival of any arctic drilling rigs. Foss immediately declined that request.

“This is a dispute between the city and the port. Foss intends to continue work at Terminal 5 under our lease with the Port regardless of the mayor’s comments. The Mayor’s action also raises grave concerns about his stated commitment to Seattle’s thriving maritime community. By giving a small but vocal group the ability to jeopardize the commercial relationships between our local maritime businesses and the Port of Seattle, the Mayor is casting serious doubt on the future of the city’s working waterfront,” explained Paul Queary, the media contact for Foss, in an email statement on May 3. Those feelings clearly never changed.

“Our CEO is going to communicate to Foss per the motion that was passed and in terms of the language of that motion it was that Foss not bring the Shell vessels here,” said Peter McGraw, the media contact for the Port of Seattle, when asked how what the Port of Seattle planned to do next. When asked to characterize the relationship between Foss and the Port of Seattle at this time McGraw declined to comment.

Due to the amount of time an appeals process and filing for a new land use permit would take Foss decided not to wait for the city’s decision.

After the Polar Pioneer’s arrival today the Noble Discoverer drilling vessel will head to Seattle as well in the coming weeks.