Royal Dutch Shell received some good news on Wednesday, when Seattle’s hearing examiner ruled that the oil and gas giant’s fleet of vessels, including its Polar Pioneer oil rig, could use the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5. Foss Maritime Corp. which holds a lease on the terminal has a contract with Shell to service the company’s rigs and support vessels.
The Port of Seattle, thus, won the case against the City of Seattle and environmental groups that were arguing against the legality of Foss’s lease with the Anglo-Dutch company. The port and Foss Maritime were concerned that limiting the use of the terminal would be bad for competitiveness. In his ruling, the hearing examiner said that the city was unjustified in demanding new land-use permits. The city will not be appealing against the hearing examiner’s ruling.
This means that Shell’s vessels can now return to the port that was the scene of massive protests by environmental groups this summer.