''Kulluk'' was an ice-strengthened drill barge that was used for oil exploration in the Arctic waters. She was constructed by

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding () is a Japanese heavy industries company. Despite its name, it no longer builds ships and now focuses mainly on production of high-value ship equipment such as Marine propulsion, engines and automated gantry cranes. Mitsui E&S is the largest ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1983 and operated in the Canadian Arctic until 1993 when she was mothballed for over a decade. In 2005, she was purchased and extensively refurbished by

Shell PLC Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...

for drilling off the

Alaska North Slope The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow, and the Beau ...

. On 31 December 2012, ''Kulluk'' drifted aground after the towing line to the icebreaking

anchor handling tug supply vessel Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels are mainly built to handle anchors for oil rigs, tow them to location, and use them to secure the rigs in place. AHTS vessels sometimes also serve as Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRVs) and a ...

'' Aiviq'' parted in heavy weather. While the rig was recovered, it was irreparable and was scrapped in March 2014.

Career

From 1983 to 1993, the rig was operated by Gulf Canada Resources in

Northern Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, terr ...

. She was mothballed in 1993, and in 2005 she was acquired by

Shell Plc Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...

and underwent intensive refurbishment. In January 2006, Shell awarded a contract to manage and operate ''Kulluk'' to Frontier Drilling (now part of

Noble Corporation Noble Corporation plc is an offshore drilling contractor organized in London, England. Its affiliate, Noble Corporation, is organized in the Cayman Islands. It is the corporate successor of Noble Drilling Corporation. The company operates 24 dr ...

2012 grounding

On 31 December 2012, ''Kulluk'' drifted aground off

Sitkalidak Island Sitkalidak Island () is an island in the western Gulf of Alaska in the Kodiak Island Borough of the state of Alaska, United States. It lies just off the southeast shore of Kodiak Island, across the Sitkalidak Strait from the city of Old Harbor. ...

in the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...

. Up until October the rig had been working in the

Beaufort Sea The Beaufort Sea ( ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska, and west of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The sea is named after Sir Francis Beaufort, a Hydrography, hydrographer. T ...

, off the

. She was being towed to her winter home in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

when she encountered a storm, and the incident occurred. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

evacuated her 18-man crew on 29 December. On

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

, tug crews were ordered by the

to cut the rig loose, leading to her grounding. ''Kulluks movement south for the winter was at least in part motivated by an effort to avoid State of Alaska property taxes on oil and gas extraction equipment. The tax in question is a state property tax of 20

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places U ...

(or 2%) "on property used or committed by contract or other agreement for use for the pipeline transportation of gas or unrefined oil or for the production of gas or unrefined oil at its full and true value as of January 1 of the assessment year." The tax liability for the rig was estimated at $6–7 million, based on the value of the rig. ''Kulluk'' was carrying of

ultra-low-sulfur diesel Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) is diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur content. Since 2006, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in Europe and North America has been of a ULSD type. The move to lower sulfur content all ...

fuel, of

aviation fuel Aviation fuels are either petroleum-based or blends of petroleum and synthetic fuels, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground applications, such as heating and road transport, and they contain add ...

and of lubricants. On January 6, 2013, ''Kulluk'' was floated from the rocks. Satisfied the vessel was seaworthy, she was towed to shelter in nearby

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (, ) is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the Un ...

's Kiliuda Bay. After further assessment of damage, ''Kulluk'' was towed to Captains Bay,

Unalaska, Alaska The City of Unalaska (; ) is the main population center in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Islan ...

, where she was loaded on the

heavy lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a ship, vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be transported by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to ...

''Xiang Rui Kou''. She departed for

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

for repair and updates in late March 2013. In October 2013, Shell said that the Kulluk would be scrapped. Until February 2014, she remained at Keppel FELS Pioneer Yard shipyard in Singapore. In March 2014, ''Xiang Rui Kou'' towed Kulluk to a Chinese scrap yard. In April 2014, the

report said that the incident was due to Shell's "inadequate assessment and management of risks" in icy, storm-tossed waters. In December 2014,

agreed to pay $12.2 million in fines for knowingly making false entries and failing to record its collection, transfer, storage, and disposal of oil in the Noble Discoverer's and the Kulluk's oil record books in 2012. In May 2015, a report by the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

blamed "Shell’s inadequate assessment of the risk for its planned tow" for the accident.

Design

''Kulluk'' was strengthened against ice with thick, reinforced steel, and a funnel-shaped

double hull A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...

with flared sides enabling her to operate in Arctic waters as moving ice was deflected downwards and was broken into pieces. The vessel was moored with a twelve-point anchor system. Her rated water depth for operations was . Her drilling depth was . Originally, ''Kulluk'' had no propulsion and had to be towed to location. In 2006, Shell contracted

Aker Arctic Aker Arctic Technology Oy (often shortened to Aker Arctic) is a Finnish engineering company that operates an ice model test basin in Helsinki. In addition to ship model testing, the company offers various design, engineering and consulting ser ...

to evaluate the feasibility of adding a thruster-aided propulsion to the drilling barge. In 2007, ''Kulluk'' was fitted with two 62-tonne, ThrustMaster hydraulic overboard azimuth thrusters, the largest ever supplied by the company, to provide the platform an ability to move between drill sites and improve her operability in ice. However, before the system was completely installed, the project was delayed and subsequently halted due to regulatory and operational changes. In 2011, the thrusters were removed and sold while ''Kulluk'' was on the shipyard, turning ''Kulluk'' into an unpropelled drilling barge again.

References

External links

Grounding of the Shell Kulluk oil rig off Kodiak Island, Alaska
on the CIMSS Satellite Blog *McKenzie Funk

''New York Times'' Magazine, December 30, 2014 {{2012 shipwrecks 1983 ships Drillships Shell plc buildings and structures Oil platform disasters Maritime incidents in 2012 Ships built by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding