Coast Guard removes activists attached to Shell ship

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — The Coast Guard has removed two activists from the anchor chain of a Royal Dutch Shell support ship docked north of Seattle.

The protesters suspended themselves early Friday from the ship in Bellingham harbor to protest the petroleum giant's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean.

A spokeswoman for the activists says they were taken off the ship about seven hours after the protest began.

The two women who had been sitting in cloth slings attached to the anchor chain of the American Trader have been identified as Sawyer Joy and Erika Osland, both students at Western Washington University.

This is the second Arctic drilling protest in the Bellingham harbor in about a month.

The oil company's proposal also has drawn large protests in Seattle, where a drill rig is being prepared to explore for oil off Alaska this summer.