April 12, 2015 - 6:09am - By Kevin McGwin
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Nearly a week after boarding a drilling rig expected to be used in Alaskan waters this summer, six activists have given up their protest due to safety concerns.
Deteriorating weather conditions and forecast swells of up to four metres raised the possibility that the group, members of Greenpeace, a conservancy organisation, could be cut off from their nearby support vessel, should an emergency arise.
“So for safety reasons, we’re all coming down today,” Aliyah Field, one of the protestors, wrote in a statement on Saturday.
SEE RELATED: “This is a fight between the people and Shell”
The activists boarded the Polar Pioneer on Monday and had been camped nearly halfway up the 100 metre structure as it was being transported across the Pacific Ocean aboard the Blue Marlin.
The group had been receiving supplies from the Esperanza, which has been shadowing the Blue Marlin since late March when it entered the South China Sea, reportedly bound for Seattle.