Judge hits Greenpeace with $2,500/hour fine for blocking exit of Shell icebreaker

Baku. 31 July. REPORT.AZ/ A US judge in Anchorage has slapped a massive accumulating fine on Greenpeace of $2500 per hour, rising to $10,000 / hour, for every hour Greenpeace activists block Shell Oil ship MSV Fennica from leaving Portland, to sail for Alaska, Report informs referring to foreign media.

The activists have been hanging from ropes since Wednesday from a bridge in Portland, Oregon's main city, to prevent the departure of the MSV Fennica, a Shell icebreaker that was in town for repairs.

But federal judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city, ruled in the oil giant's favour on Thursday, imposing the hourly fine until the protesters withdraw, a court official told AFP.

The fine will increase the longer the protest continues, according to the local KGW News.

Starting at 10am on Friday (0300 AEST on Saturday), Greenpeace will be fined $US5,000 an hour, increasing to $US7,500 an hour on Saturday and $US10,000 an hour from Sunday.

Greenpeace's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.