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The group said in a statement its team would
occupy the underside of the Polar Pioneer's main deck and plans
to unfurl a banner with the names of millions of people opposed
to Arctic drilling, adding that they would not interfere with
the vessel's navigation.
"We're here to highlight that in less than 100 days Shell is
going to the Arctic to drill for oil," 32-year-old Johno Smith,
one of the six to board the Blue Marlin, the ship carrying the
rig, said in the statement.
"Shell's actions are exploiting the melting ice to increase a
man-made disaster. Climate change is real," he added.
Shell said in an emailed statement that it has met with groups
against oil drilling off Alaska's shores and "respect their
views" but condemned the boarding.
"We can confirm that protesters from Greenpeace have illegally
boarded the Polar Pioneer, under contract to Shell, jeopardizing
not only the safety of the crew on board, but the protesters
themselves," Shell said.
The move comes just days after the U.S. Interior Department
upheld a 2008 lease sale in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, moving
Shell a step closer to returning to oil and gas exploration in
the Arctic since it suffered mishaps in the region in 2012.
Many environmentalists oppose offshore energy exploration in the
Arctic, saying that once production begins any oil spill would
be extremely difficult to clean up.
Oil industry interests say the Arctic will be important to the
country's energy security in coming decades when output from
shale formations is expected to wane.
Images published by Greenpeace showed the activists using
climbing gear to move from an inflatable boat onto the Blue
Marlin heavy-lift vessel towing the Pioneer, one of two drill
rigs heading to the region, as it cruised some 750 miles (1,207
km) northwest of Hawaii.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; editing by Jason
Neely)
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