[1][2] Hundreds of protesters took to Elliott Bay in kayaks, rafts, and other small boats, both as a demonstration and to interrupt docking of Shell's Polar Pioneer semi-submersible drilling vessel at Terminal 5.

[8] In the summer 2012, Shell refurbished the Kulluk and the Noble Discoverer drillships in Seattle, which the company said employed 400 shipyard workers and put $200 million into the local economy.

[9] Greenpeace opposed these plans, and some Iñupiat people of the North Slope said that in spite of the economic benefits to them, they feared damage to the ocean environment they depend on for food.

[9] A Barrow, Alaska village organization director said, "We are opposed to offshore development because the ocean is like our garden up here in the Arctic for our subsistence way of life.

"[9] The Kulluk ran aground in January 2013 and had to be rescued, resulting in the US Department of the Interior ordering Shell to halt drilling until safety problems were corrected.

[10] New regulations were written by the department, and drilling was restricted to shallower waters, up to 140 ft (43 m) deep, and to summer months only, and stricter rules on blowout preventers were put in place.

[10] Environmentalists and oil industry experts agree the area is one of the most dangerous areas in the world to drill, because besides rough seas including 50 ft (15 m) waves, storms, and cold weather, the cleanup and rescue is made harder by a lack of any roads to major cities and no deepwater ports within hundreds of miles, with the closest Coast Guard station capable of assisting in an oil spill located 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away.

[6] In May, 2014, Foss Maritime representatives met with Port staff, discussing the use of T5 to handle modules of a liquid natural gas plant which would go by barge to Canada for assembly.

[1] The purpose of the new lease was to provide an off-season harbor for Shell vessels conducting exploratory drilling in the summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast.

[6] The US Geological Survey has estimated the offshore reserves in the Arctic at 26 million barrels of oil and 130 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

[1] During the last months of 2014, a safety assessment was carried out by the Port, the Coast Guard, Foss, and Puget Sound Pilots, by conducting a simulation of an oil rig entering Elliott Bay.

[4] The decision was a victory for Shell, having worked for several years to overcome regulatory roadblocks, based primarily on concerns of an accident like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

[10] The dangers of the Arctic seas and weather were seen as increasing the risk of an accident, as well as exacerbating the difficulty of containing a blowout and oil spill, and carrying out cleanup.

[1] At least 20 kayaks, and members of the Duwamish Tribe in a large wooden canoe, greeted the rig in Elliott Bay, unfurling a banner reading "Arctic Drilling = Climate Change.

"[12] With regard to the economic impact on Seattle and the threat of lost jobs, O'Brien said, "There's no doubt that our economy is tied to the fossil fuel industry.

"[12] As part of the ongoing series of protests, activists from the group Mosquito Fleet* rented a 4,000 sq ft (370 m2) barge from Lakeshore Marine Construction of Kenmore.

[11] The project was led by Arctic drilling protest organizer John Sellers, who works for a nonprofit called The Other 98% which addresses "undue corporate influence".