A wave of public pressure has prompted the Port of Seattle (Washington, United States) to request that the arrival of  drilling rigs headed for Alaska be delayed. Royal Dutch Shell plans to drill for oil in the Arctic this summer, using the Puget Sound (Seattle sits on its shores) as home port.

Earlier this year, Shell signed a lease allowing it the use of Terminal 5’s 50-acre site near downtown Seattle. After three hours of ardent testimony in favor of pulling the lease, the port instead said only that Shell “should” postpone use of the terminal “pending further legal review.” The port placed the onus upon a local company, Foss Maritime, to delay the mooring of Shell’s watercraft.

Shell plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea, a project experts have said could be the preface to an environmental catastrophe.

The day before the board’s port’s three-to-one vote, authorities from the U.S. Government provided conditional approval to Shell to commence the drilling of test wells this summer. The enormous exploration rigs are scheduled to arrive for moorage this week. The trip north to Alaska would come some time before the approved drilling season, which could be as early as July 15.

Protesters will attempt to block the vessels from Shell this weekend, rallying in small boats and kayaks. As well, protests on land are scheduled to be visible in Seattle itself next week. Although they have no official say in the matter, Seattle’s mayor Ed Murray and the City Council have criticized the lease and asked the port to consider another use for the property. Commissioners of the Port of Seattle are independently elected.