The Port of Seattle has won a dispute with the City of Seattle over the legality of its lease with Royal Dutch Shell.
After testimony in August about the definition of cargo, Seattle’s Hearing Examiner reversed the city’s determination and now says Shell can legally use Terminal 5 as a home port for its Arctic drilling fleet.
The ruling says servicing Shell’s vessels is a permissible use for a cargo terminal.
Foss Maritime brokered the lease with Shell. Spokesman Paul Queary says the ruling is important, and not just for the parties directly involved in the Shell deal. He says it had called into question other common off-season uses of cargo terminals, which includes everything from fishing fleets to fire boats.
“The initial determination really caused some consternation among the maritime community and we view this as an encouraging sign that Seattle will continue to welcome the maritime industry, because we’ve been providing jobs and tax revenue and other economic benefits to the city since it was founded and we’d like to continue doing that.”
He says Shell’s vessels can now legally return to Seattle, although it’s not clear how many will come, now that the company has canceled its drilling plans for the Arctic.
