SALVAGE crews might board a grounded drilling barge today in Alaska to assess whether conditions have abated enough to advance its recovery, Fairplay has been told.
Shell Oil’s 27,968gt Kulluk, operated by Noble, was being towed from Dutch Harbour, Alaska, to Seattle on 28 December when tugs lost control of it 80km (50 miles) off Kodiak Island in 100kph winds and 11m (35ft) seas.
All 18 Kulluk crew members were safely evacuated by Coast Guard helicopter crews on 29 December, but on 31 December the vessel separated from its towlines, then grounded on the southeast side of Sitkalidak Island.
Initial flyovers confirmed that the barge, carrying 143,000 gallons of ultra-low-sulphur Diesel and 10,000 gallons of hydraulic fuel, is stable with no signs a spill, the Coast Guard confirmed today.
With the improved weather, “we’re very optimistic about the opportunity to get some good intelligence from flyovers and to get a salvage crew on the Kulluk to do an eyes-on assessment that will drive decisions later in the day for recovery plans”, a US Coast Guard official told Fairplay.
He added that there are 600 people responding to the casualty, up from 250 people a day ago, “as we have move from emergency response to salvage and recovery”.