Shell Ships Alaska Drilling Rigs To Asia For Repairs

Putting their 2013 Arctic drilling plans into doubt, Royal Dutch Shell announced Monday that it will tow its purpose-built drilling rigs from Alaska to Asia for major repairs.

The Noble Discoverer and the Kulluk began work on two wells during the 2012 drilling season, though Shell had earlier hoped to do six wells.

The string of problems that befell Shell in the Arctic last year would amount to a comedy of errors, if it weren’t so expensive.

The Kulluk ran aground. The Noble Discoverer dragged its anchor and suffered an engine-room fire. Shell’s brand-new tug boat Aiviq suffered failures in all four engines while at sea. Shell’s oil spill containment dome broke during testing.

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