Bid to board Kulluk after rig ran aground

Drama: the Kulluk aground off Sitkalidak Island

USCG

By

 03 January 2013 23:59 GMT

Unified Incident Command in the US will attempt to get responders onboard the drilling rig Kulluk this week after it ran aground off Sitkalidak Island, Alaska, writes Blake Wright.

The unit was under tow to Seattle following supermajor Shell’s Arctic drilling campaign when the anchor-handler Aiviq lost power and eventually control of the rig.

Federal on-scene co-ordinator Captain Paul Mehler III confirmed that flyovers have found the unit stable, with no signs of hull breaching.

The Kulluk has about 134,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 12,000 gallons of other petroleum products onboard.

Mehler called the response effort “dynamic”, as the salvage plan started to take shape, chiefly due to the weather conditions in the area.

The responders are being hampered by winds of more…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index