(Adds complaint filed by Shell in Alaska)
April 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc said ithas filed a complaint in federal court in Alaska seeking anorder to remove Greenpeace activists who climbed aboard an oilrig in the Pacific Ocean bound for the Arctic on Monday in aprotest against Arctic drilling.
The environmental group said in a statement its team wouldoccupy the underside of the main deck of the Polar Pioneer,which is under contract to Shell, and plans to unfurl a bannerwith the names of millions of people opposed to Arctic drilling.The group said the activists would not interfere with thevessel's navigation.
"We're here to highlight that in less than 100 days Shell isgoing to the Arctic to drill for oil," 32-year-old Johno Smith,one of the six to board the Blue Marlin, the ship carrying therig, said in the statement.
"Shell's actions are exploiting the melting ice to increasea man-made disaster. Climate change is real," he added.
Shell said in an emailed statement that it has met withgroups against oil drilling off Alaska's shores and "respecttheir views" but condemned the boarding.
"We can confirm that protesters from Greenpeace haveillegally boarded the Polar Pioneer, under contract to Shell,jeopardizing not only the safety of the crew on board, but theprotesters themselves," Shell said.
The move comes just days after the U.S. Interior Departmentupheld a 2008 lease sale in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, movingShell a step closer to returning to oil and gas exploration inthe Arctic since it suffered mishaps in the region in 2012.
Many environmentalists oppose offshore energy exploration inthe Arctic, saying that once production begins any oil spillwould be extremely difficult to clean up.
Oil industry interests say the Arctic will be important tothe United States' energy security in coming decades when outputfrom shale formations is expected to wane.
Images published by Greenpeace showed the activists usingclimbing gear to move from an inflatable boat onto the BlueMarlin heavy-lift vessel towing the Pioneer, one of two drillrigs heading to the region, as it cruised some 750 miles (1,207km) northwest of Hawaii. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; editing by JasonNeely and Leslie Adler)