The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld a now-expired injunction that barred Greenpeace activists from approaching Shell's drill rigs and other vessels used in the company's 2012 Alaska exploration program (Shell Offshore Inc. v. Greenpeace Inc., 9th Cir., No. 12-35332, 3/12/13). In the March 12 ruling, the court rejected Greenpeace USA's argument that the lower court overstepped its authority by imposing the restriction at sea outside U.S. territorial waters. Justification for injunctive relieve does not change when "vessels traverse an invisible line separating U.S. territorial waters from the waters of the U.S. [exclusive economic zone], nor at the moment when its rigs detach from the seabed," said the appeals court ruling, written by Justice Warren Tashima.
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