ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard and Shell were making fresh preparations on Sunday to tow a grounded Alaska oil rig, saying crews would keep trying to connect a tow line after rough weather prevented their efforts all Saturday.
According to a news release from the unified grounding response team, the aim, once the conditions are right, is to tow the rig to a sheltered bay nearby so experts can make a better assessment of its sea worthiness.
Officials have declined to speculate on the exact timing of the removal of the Kulluk from the rocky coast of tiny Sitkalidak Island, though a senior Shell executive said last week he believed it was a matter of days.
The fortunes of the grounded drillship, which started a well in the Beaufort Sea late last year, face particular scrutiny because it was a key part of Royal Dutch Shell's controversial and error-prone 2012 Arctic drilling program.
http://news.yahoo.com/weather-disrupts-shell-efforts-free-alaska-oil-rig-200440244--finance.html
According to a news release from the unified grounding response team, the aim, once the conditions are right, is to tow the rig to a sheltered bay nearby so experts can make a better assessment of its sea worthiness.
Officials have declined to speculate on the exact timing of the removal of the Kulluk from the rocky coast of tiny Sitkalidak Island, though a senior Shell executive said last week he believed it was a matter of days.
The fortunes of the grounded drillship, which started a well in the Beaufort Sea late last year, face particular scrutiny because it was a key part of Royal Dutch Shell's controversial and error-prone 2012 Arctic drilling program.
http://news.yahoo.com/weather-disrupts-shell-efforts-free-alaska-oil-rig-200440244--finance.html
