Shell’s Arctic icebreaker damaged in Alaska
Source: Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON Shells drive to resume Arctic drilling this summer has hit another speed bump, with the discovery of a hole in the hull of an ice management vessel meant to safeguard the companys operations in the Chukchi Sea.
The MSV Fennica was on its way from Dutch Harbor, Alaska to the Chukchi Sea on Friday when a ballast tank leak was discovered by crew members and a certified Alaska marine harbor pilot on board the vessel.
The 22-year-old icebreaker has since returned to the port in Dutch Harbor and is being examined by marine experts, but it is uncertain how quickly the breach in its hull can be repaired and whether this will delay Shells hopes to begin drilling an oil well in the Chukchi Sea later this month.
The Fennica is just one of the 29 vessels in Shells Arctic fleet, which includes another icebreaker, the MSV Nordica, and at least two other anchor handlers tasked with helping to keep ice away from the companys drilling site. But Shells contracted Fennica is unique in that it is carrying a critical piece of the companys Arctic containment system: a capping stack designed to fit on top of a damaged well in case of a blowout or other emergency.
Read more: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/07/07/shells-arctic-icebreaker-damaged-in-alaska/#33766101=0
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)jomin41
(559 posts)Romeo.lima333
(1,127 posts)underneath that ecological balance
montanacowboy
(6,115 posts)just the beginning of a failed venture