Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) said an Arctic drilling barge, headed to Seattle for maintenance, was safely recovered yesterday after being set adrift during a storm in the Gulf of Alaska.
Crew of the Shell-owned barge, Kulluk, were evacuated last night as a precaution after towing resumed, said Curtis Smith, an Alaska-based Shell spokesman, in a telephone interview today. The offshore tug Aiviq recovered the Kulluk.
Shell has invested $4.5 billion in offshore leases and equipment and fought at least 50 lawsuits from environmental groups to begin drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas this year, the first wells in U.S. Arctic waters in about 20 years. The Kulluk was in need of maintenance after starting a well in the Beaufort Sea, Smith said.