SEATTLE, June 29 (Reuters) - U.S. environmental activistssaid they planned to protest on Tuesday against the launch ofthe second of two oil rigs central to Shell's plans todrill for oil in the Arctic.
The Washington state activists, who have staged frequentdemonstrations over the last two months against Royal DutchShell's oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off mainland Alaska,said they expected the rig to leave a Seattle-area port in theearly morning and were planning a water-borne protest.
Shell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company could begin drilling for oil in the Arctic offAlaska as early as the third week in July, when it expects seaice to begin clearing.
The first drilling rig arrived in Dutch Harbor off mainlandAlaska on Saturday morning and will remain there until icebegins clearing where the company plans to drill through lateSeptember.
The company was given a conditional green light by the U.S.Department of the Interior in May to return to the Arctic forthe first time since its mishap-plagued 2012 drilling season.
Protesters around Washington have staged ongoingdemonstrations over Shell's intention to drill for fossil fuelin the Arctic, one of the most environmentally sensitive regionsin the world, saying a spill would be destructive to theecosystem and extremely hard to clean up.
Shell maintains that it has a robust safety and clean-upplan should a spill occur. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Writing by CurtisSkinner; Editing by Mark Potter)