Noble Discoverer slips moorings

Noble Discoverer: the drillship, seen here in New Zealand last year, slipped its moorings and drifted towards the shore in Alaska's Aleutian islands over the weekend

RUSSELL SEARANCKE

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News Wires

 16 July 2012 02:10 GMT

One of the drillships that Shell plans to use in a controversial Arctic drilling programme slipped off its moorings and drifted to the edge of shore in Alaska's Aleutian islands over the weekend.

The 152-metre Noble Discoverer, contracted by Shell to drill exploration wells in the remote Chukchi Sea off north-west Alaska, drifted in windy conditions on Saturday afternoon to within 91 meters of shore in an Aleutian bay, Coast Guard Petty Officer Sara Francis told Reuters.

A tug towed the ship back to its mooring site, and the Discoverer was re-anchored, she told the news agency, adding that winds were gusting up to 56 kilometres per hour at the time.

The ship's crew did not feel any shuddering or other indications of impact, Francis said.…

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