Controversial Drillship Enters Elliott Bay, Contributes to Sunday Afternoon Traffic Jam

At mid-afternoon today, Royal Dutch Shell Oil's drillship Noble Discoverer entered Elliott Bay enroute to Vigor Shipyards, where it is scheduled to undergo cold-weather modifications before departing for the Arctic. The ship has been granted permission by the EPA to drill exploration wells in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi seas, beginning this summer. Additional approvals are required before drilling can begin.

In February 2012, Greenpeace activists boarded the vessel in New Zealand and occupied it for four days, impeding its departure for North America. According to The Washington Post, a US District Court judge has ordered representatives of Greenpeace to stay a kilometer away from Noble Discoverer and a sister vessel until the end of the open-water drilling season.

Noble Discoverer was but one of many vessels entering and leaving Elliott Bay concurrently this afternoon.  CMA CGM Samson, a 335-meter containership with a capacity of 8,530 TEU that was delivered to its Greece-based owners in December 2011, was departing Pier 18 . . .

 . . . while the smaller Camellia, a 224-meter containership with a capacity of 2,824 TEU, was awaiting the berth just vacated by the Samson.

At the same time, we had WSF Wenatchee departing Pier 52 for Eagle Harbor and WSF Kitsap arriving from Bremerton.

And did we mention Victoria Clipper III arriving at Pier 69?

It was the marine equivalent of a three-ring circus.