Taking advantage of a break in the weather, salvage crews on Sunday attached a tow line to a drilling rig that ran aground last week in the Gulf of Alaska.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Klingenberg/U.S. Coast Guard, via Reuters
The Kulluk, a drilling rig owned by Shell Oil, remains grounded along Sitkalidak Island, about 300 miles south of Anchorage.
Officials said that the rig, the Kulluk, was stable and that there was no sign of environmental damage. With the line attached to a ship, the Aiviq, preparations were under way to move the rig from its spot along a rocky shoreline on Sitkalidak Island to a sheltered harbor for inspection.
"We have made the tow connection to the Kulluk," said Ignacio Gonzalez, a spokesman for the unified command, the response team that includes representatives from Shell, the Coast Guard and Alaska's environmental agency. He said the towing operation was on standby, dependent on the tide and other conditions.
Command officials had initially been pessimistic about the possibility of moving the rig on Sunday, with gale warnings in effect for the area, about 300 miles south of Anchorage.
The 266-foot-diameter Kulluk, one of two rigs Shell is using in its ambitious effort to open Arctic waters to oil production, was being towed to Seattle last month after a season in the Arctic. It ran aground on Dec. 31 after its tow ship lost power, and it is carrying about 150,000 gallons of marine diesel fuel and lubricating oils.
Sean Churchfield, operations manager for Shell Alaska, said on Saturday that the rig's fuel tanks were intact and that there were no signs of any leaks. He said the response team had decided against pumping the fuel onto a nearby ship, figuring there was a greater risk of a spill from such a transfer. "At this stage, we feel the best plan is to leave the fuel on board," he said.
Mr. Churchfield said salvage crews who inspected the Kulluk had discovered seawater in one part of the space between the inner and outer hulls. Normally the space is watertight, and Mr. Churchfield said it was unclear how water had entered. But he said it was not expected to cause problems for the recovery effort. "According to naval architects, the vessel is sound and fit to tow," he said.
Nearly 20 ships, tugs and response vessels have been deployed to the area by Shell, its contractors and the Coast Guard, the unified command said. Oil-absorbing booms have been put in place as a precaution.
In addition to favorable weather, tidal conditions have to be right to try to pull the rig from where it is grounded, in 30 feet of water about 1,100 feet offshore. The response team said the Kulluk would be towed about 30 miles north to Kiliuda Bay, where it would be fully inspected in calmer water. A decision would then be made on whether to continue the journey to Seattle.
After drilling test wells off the North Slope of Alaska in 2012, the Kulluk and Shell's second rig were expected to return to the Arctic this year. But the grounding and several other episodes last year have raised questions about the company's drilling plans in the region.
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