An oil drilling rig owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc ran
aground in Alaska after drifting in stormy weather, highlighting the serious
risks of working in an offshore region where some in the industry see huge
potential.
While the U.S. Coast Guard was concerned about a potential
spill from the drillship, named the Kulluk, its hull appeared sound after a few over
flights.
Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler said the Kulluk
had 143,000 gallons of ultra-low-sulphur diesel and 12,000 gallons of other oil
products on board.
The grounding of the drillship, weighing
nearly 28,000 gross tons and operated by Noble Corp ,
is a blow to Shell's
$4.5 billion (2.7 billion pounds) offshore program in Alaska.
The rig had been headed to Puget Sound
for maintenance and upgrades when it broke away from one of its tow lines and
was driven to rocks just off Kodiak Island that night. The 18-member crew had
already been evacuated by the Coast Guard because of risks from the storm.
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