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Dry towing a drillship? Something must be very seriously wrong. And when the Kulluk comes out of the water the damage to the hull will be clear for all to see – look forward to seeing the photographs!
RELATED COMMENT
The practice of dry towing is used when a vessel is transported on the deck of a heavy lift vessel.
For the Kulluk, this will expose the damaged underside for all to see. Dry towing of the Kulluk makes sense because the speed of the heavy lift vessel is 2-3 times faster than could be achieved with a conventional tow.
Dry towing of the Discoverer is somewhat unusual because the drillship should have been capable of sailing under its own steam at about the same speed as a heavy lift transport vessel. The use of a dry tow implies that the vessel is unseaworthy. Perhaps the Discoverer was more seriously damaged when it went aground last summer than Shell admitted? Or perhaps the recent explosion was more than just a “backfire”?
It’s a pity the exclusion zone will prevent anyone taking photographs when the vessels are lifted out of the water.
If you look at Google images, you’ll find plenty of examples of heavy lift dry tows. There are comparatively few examples of large ships being dry towed, but a well-publicised case was the USS Cole (heading photo above) after it was attacked in harbour. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing for example.
RELATED ARTICLE
Shell Drillship Noble Discoverer Backfires in Dutch Harbor
November 16, 2012|By Adam Pinsker and Chris Klint
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Unalaska firefighters responded to a stack backfire aboard the drillship Noble Discoverer Friday morning in Dutch Harbor, after it completed Shell Oil’s first season of exploratory Arctic offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea last month.
According to Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith, the backfire occurred in one of the Noble Discoverer’s smokestacks just before noon Friday. Shell didn’t call local firefighters, who responded as a precaution without boarding the rig.
“Upon engine start up in Dutch Harbor, Alaska this morning the Noble Discoverer experienced a loud engine backfire followed by a small, residual fire that was quickly extinguished by the crew,” Smith said in a Friday statement. “The Discoverer was never in danger and there are no injuries. The Noble Discoverer remains on schedule to depart for Seward, Alaska in the very near future.”
Smith likens the explosion to a car backfiring, caused by an imbalance of fuel and air, and says the incident is under investigation. Crews are checking to see if any equipment was damaged.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
