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Safe harbor, uncertain future for Shell’s Arctic rig

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy | January 7, 2013 | Updated: January 7, 2013 11:01pm

WASHINGTON – A massive campaign to free a grounded Arctic drilling rig that involved more than a dozen ships and some 730 people cleared a big hurdle Monday, as salvagers pulled the vessel to safe harbor in Alaska.

Salvage crews anchored the Kulluk rig in Kodiak Island’s sheltered Kiliuda Bay, where it arrived Monday morning. Three support vessels remained attached to the Kulluk.

For Shell, which owns the 266-foot conical drilling unit and planned to use it to continue a $5 billion quest for Arctic oil this summer, the work is just beginning.

Inspectors now will evaluate its exterior, fuel tanks and equipment, possibly using remotely operated vehicles to get a glimpse of the hull underwater.

There were no signs of leaking fuel from the rig during its 45-mile voyage from Sitkalidak Island, but 150,000 gallons of diesel and other petroleum liquids are on board.

The Kulluk will remain anchored in Kiliuda Bay at least until the Coast Guard deems it safe to travel again, possibly after extensive repairs.

“This is a major milestone in the recovery operation,” said Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler III. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Kulluk beached along Sitkalidak Island on New Year’s Eve, after a five-day fight to tow the rig to safe harbor amid four-story waves and 70-mph winds. Shell had been using its chartered anchor-handling vessel, Aiviq, to pull the unpropelled conical drilling rig across the Gulf of Alaska when the tow line broke and the Aiviq’s four engines malfunctioned on Dec. 27.

Salvage specialists were able to wrest the Kulluk free at 10:10 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on Sunday – 1:10 a.m. Monday in Houston – by taking advantage of high tide conditions.

Workers connected a tow line earlier Sunday, then applied tension, said Sean Churchfield, Shell Alaska operations manager.

“As the high water approached, the salvage crew increased tension,” Churchfield said. “The Kulluk came off reasonably easily.”

That led to celebration in the Anchorage command center where a “unified command” involving Shell, the Coast Guard and other partners was directing operations.

“Everybody was yelling and screaming and very, very happy,” said Steven Russell, with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “Everybody on-site and in the command center was overjoyed.”

It appears major environmental damage has been averted in an area that is home to sea otters and sea lions. Workers trailing the Kulluk in the predawn darkness used infrared equipment to monitor the rig and saw no signs of leaking fuel, officials said.

“They conducted monitoring along the entire route with no evidence of pollution,” Russell said.

But workers still have to retrieve the Kulluk’s fuel-filled lifeboats, which were swept from the grounded rig.

Mehler pledged to conduct a complete “shoreline assessment and cleanup to ensure this response leaves no footprint on Alaska’s environment.”

Environmentalists said the episode should prompt federal regulators to reassess Shell’s Arctic drilling plans.

“We were lucky the accident happened close to Coast Guard facilities. We were lucky the weather allowed for salvage. And we were lucky an accident like this did not happen while the Kulluk was drilling,” said Susan Murray, Pacific deputy vice president of the conservation group Oceana. “However, Alaskan waters demand more than luck.”

It is not yet known whether the Kulluk can be repaired in time for drilling this summer, even if regulators allow it.

If the Kulluk is sidelined, Shell could seek to salvage some of its planned 2013 season by resuming “top-hole drilling,” which doesn’t penetrate zones that could contain oil and gas.

“At this stage, it’s too early to gauge any impact on our ongoing exploration plans,” Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum said. “But with the Kulluk now safely recovered, we’ll carry out a detailed assessment of the vessel to understand what those impacts might be.

“In the meantime, we will participate in the U.S. Coast Guard‘s investigation into the causes of this incident and will implement lessons learned.”

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