Thirty-foot seas and an arctic storm are preventing rescue or salvage of a Royal Dutch Shell oil drilling rig that ran aground in Alaska on New Year's Eve.
The drilling rig, named the Kulluk, has not yet broken apart, but sits precariously just off Sitkalidak Island in the southeast part of the state. Reports indicate that the ship is intact, but worries are heightened that chances of spilling the vessel's 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel and other toxic lubricants increase with each passing hour.
Noble In $12.2M Settlement With DOJ Over Alaska Drillingby Reuters|Monday, December 08, 2014
HOUSTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Drilling contractor Noble Corporation PLC on Monday said it paid $12.2 million to settle felony charges by the U.S. Department of Justice related to safety, environmental and record keeping violations on vessels in Arctic waters off Alaska in 2012.
During 2012, the Noble Discoverer drillship experienced numerous problems with its main propulsion system, including its main engine, resulting in engine shut-downs, equipment failures, and unsafe conditions, according to prosecutors.
Noble acknowledges that it failed to report any of these hazardous conditions to the U.S. Coast Guard, according to DOJ.
The Noble Discoverer was contracted by Royal Dutch Shell PLC to work on Shell leases in the remote Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska.
Charges also relate to Noble's operation of the Shell-owned drilling unit Kulluk, which ran aground in December 2012 after work in the Beaufort Sea. Noble failed to keep proper records on both vessels, prosecutors said.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Noble will plead guilty to eight felony offenses, pay $8.2 million in fines and $4 million in community service payments.
The London-based company is also required to implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan, and will be placed on probation for four years.
A spokesman for Noble said the company has made significant improvements to the Noble Discoverer since it entered the shipyard in 2013.
wildbourgman wrote:It's still hard to believe that Shell allowed this to get that far. As good as Shell is in the Gulf of Mexico you wouldn't expect that in Alaska offshore especially when they know everyones watching. Yeah makes sence spend billions to get in the game and then go cheap on the rigs. That would be like someone spending an arm and a leg to buy a NFL franchise and then trading away all the star players in order to save money.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
sparky wrote:.
I would agree with the feelings above ,
but you know as well as me that the business is to get close to the optimum cost/benefit line .
sometimes there is a wrong call, made by optimistic , ignorant or delusional people ,
they can get away with it and be hailed as great guys , or it can go all pear-shaped and the tool pusher or master is the first blamed
sometimes it's just too hard, arctic is no place to shave the safety margin , in fact no place is ,not with oil or gas
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