Skibet har endnu ikke lækket olie, men et læk ville have katastrofale konsekvenser, og ulykken viser, hvorfor Shells planer om olieboringer i det iskolde og ufremkommelige arktiske hav er en dårlig idé, mener Greenpeace.
In another example of why drilling for oil in the Arctic is such a monumentally bad idea, Shell’s drilling rig, the Kulluk, has run aground off the island of Sitkalidak, near Kodiak in Alaska.
The ancient rig was being towed back to harbour after a spectacularly unsuccessful summer drilling season when it ran into serious trouble and hit the shore.
Last Thursday the Kulluk was being towed from the Arctic by Shell’s brand new $200 million tug the Aiviq when it hit heavy weather in the Bering Sea that caused the 400 foot towing line to break and the rig to drift free.
By Friday the Aiviq managed to reconnect with the Kulluk, but it “experienced multiple engines failures” 50 miles south of Kodiak Island, causing the rig to drift free once again in 35ft seas and winds of 40mph.
On Saturday the Kulluk’s crew were helicoptered off the rig by the US Coast Guard and the vessel dropped its anchor lines to slow its drift towards the coast. During Sunday the towing lines were reconnected but broke yet again.
Eventually on Monday morning the Aiviq also restored connection with the Kulluk about 19 miles off the coast of Kodiak Island and began the process of towing it to Port Hobron in Alaska. However, later on Monday night, the Kulluk broke its towing lines again just 4 miles off the coast and soon after it ran aground.
The Kulluk has 139,000 gallons of diesel and 12,000 gallons of hydraulic oil on board but as yet no spills have been observed. Even so, one official involved in the response sounded a word of warning, saying that “we don’t know about the damage. It’s too dark. The weather is horrendous.”
Læs mere her: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/shells-worsening-arctic-drilling-plans/blog/43537/
Begynd ved: “Shell and the US Coast Guard are currently…”
