Shell Drilling Barge Has Damaged Generators

A drill vessel of the Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which was aground off a far island in Gulf of Alaska, was found stable and upright. However, the vessel was damaged to its upper deck and generators.

Sean Churchfield, the Shell incident commander, said that open hatches were discovered in the vessel by a salvage team. Those hatches let water to enter the vessel named as ‘Kulluk’. At the time of open water season in 2012, the vessel drilled in the Beaufort Sea.

According to the Coast Guard, no sign of fuel leak was there.

The drilling barge could not be controlled by a tugboat after it lost a line to its main tugging ship. For that reason, the vessel ran around Monday night.

According to Churchfield, external generators might be needed as the barge’s generators had been damaged. He also said that the salvage team was still assessing the damage and so, it was not the right time to say when the barge could be moved.

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