In yet another example of just
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 back from the Arctic by Shell’s brand new $200m tug the Aiviq
when it hit heavy weather in the gulf of Alaska that caused the 400ft towing line
to break and the rig to drift free. By Friday the Aiviq managed to
reconnect with the Kulluk but it “experienced multiple engine
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 Kullukbroke
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.” Shell and the US Coast Guard are currently working out
their next steps but are being severely hampered by “extreme weather conditions
and high seas.”
We already know about the terrible
impact spills can have in Alaska. In 1989 the Exxon-Valdez tanker crashed
on Bligh Reef and spilled hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into Prince
William Sound, covering huge areas of sea and coastline with a coating of thick
crude and killing
thousands of birds, sea otters, seals and orca. Even today
the region is suffering from the after effects.
Sadly, this sort of incident
isn’t new to Shell. Its attempts to drill for oil in the freezing Chukchi and
Beaufort Seas have been hit by accidents and mishaps every step of the way:
from beached
drill ships to flaming
engines, and from failed
safety inspections to key equipment being “crushed
like a beer can”, Shell’s attempts to find oil in the Arctic have lurched
from one expensive and reckless farce to another.
It claims to have a “world
class” Arctic programme in place to deal with any accidents, but the running aground of the Kulluk is
yet another example of how utterly incapable Shell is of operating safely in
one of the planet's most remote and extreme environments. Were the pristine
environment of the frozen north not at risk of an oil spill it would be almost
comical. Instead it’s tragic.
Rather than opening up the high north to oil firms we need to keep this
fragile place off-limits to reckless industrialisation. Join us now to
help Save The Arctic!