The Coast Guard said a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil rig that ran aground
this week off the southern coast of Alaska doesn't appear to be spilling
fuel, adding that a recovery plan won't be completed until a full
assessment of the situation is available.
Shell said a salvage crew boarded the Kulluk late Wednesday
and spent three hours examining the drilling rig, which is owned by
Shell and operated by Switzerland-based contract driller Noble
Corp. Late Monday, the drillship struck Sitkalidak Island, an
uninhabited area about 300 miles southwest of Anchorage in the Gulf of
Alaska.
"I can report that there are still no signs of any sheen or
environmental impact, and the Kulluk appears to be stable," Capt. Paul
Mehler, the Coast Guard federal on-scene coordinator, said late
Wednesday after the salvage crew returned from the rig.
Aerial inspections were conducted throughout Wednesday to
examine the rig, Shell and the Coast Guard said. "As we flew along the
shoreline we did see four lifeboats that we believe to be from the
Kulluk," he said.
Steve Russell, of Alaska's Department of Environmental
Conservation, said the lifeboats' position relative to the platform was
significant because any other debris would be in the same area. The team
didn't see any other debris that could be identified as belonging to
the rig, he said.
The rig, which until last fall was drilling the initial stages
of exploratory wells in the Arctic off Alaska's northern coast, has
inches-thick steel walls to ward against punctures. But it lacks
equipment to propel itself through choppy seas. The rig was carrying
574,000 liters of diesel fuel and lubricants used for its own operation.
The Kulluk had encountered trouble since Friday, when the tug
boat pulling it experienced engine failure, leaving the rig adrift.
Attempts to tow the rig in rough weather were unsuccessful, and it
crashed into the island's shore Monday night.