Shell drill ship runs aground off Alaska

[Clydee]

Extract from Sydney Morning Herald article

A large drill ship belonging to oil major Shell ran aground off Alaska on Monday night after drifting in stormy weather, company and government officials said.

The ship, the Kulluk, broke away from one of its tow lines on Monday afternoon and was driven to rocks just off Kodiak Island, where it grounded at about 9 p.m. Alaska time, officials said.

The 18-member crew had been evacuated by the Coast Guard late Saturday because of risks from the storm.

With winds reported at up to 60 miles (100 km) an hour and Gulf of Alaska seas of up to 35 feet (11 m), responders were unable to keep the ship from grounding, said Coast Guard Commander Shane Montoya, the leader of the incident command team.

"We are now entering into the salvage and possible spill-response phase of this event," Montoya told a news conference late on Monday night in Anchorage.

There were three minor injuries to people responding to the incident but all personnel have returned to duty.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/shell-drill-ship-runs-aground-off-alaska-20130102-2c4nd.html#ixzz2Gno0n8me

[Jean Hemond]

Word of caution the tug or more exactly the AHT is the AIVIQ not the AIVIK the cargo we see on the east coast of Canada.
The Kulluk is a drilling platform,  not propelled, And from memory it was a Beaudrill Gulf Canada resources construction in Japan from 30 years ago.
It was potentially  Canadian registered but I think it might have changed since it was rescued from scraping by Shell and went through considerable refit.
http://arcticready.com/classic-kulluk
http://www.mxak.org/community/kulluk/kullukmore.html

[JonHare]

The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255725/Shell-oil-drill-ship-runs-aground-remote-Alaskan-island-storm.html

Fair number of pics and video. 

[jack2]

More Video Image:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=Oil_rig_runs_aground_during_severe_storm_02_01_2013?ref=ccbox_weather_topstories

[davidships]

KULLUK ex-KULLU ex-KULLUK
non-propelled drilling ship - Sedco Arctic design
IMO 8752219
27,968gt  83.80 x 69.24 x 18.50m
built 1983 Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Tamano (Yd F564)

Marshall Islands flag since 2006

[Tuomas Romu]

Actually, Kulluk is more like 83.8 x 83.8 m, or ⌀ 83.8 m.

[davidships]

I'm not aware of recent major modifications - she is classed with DNV - theirs and other registers show 69.24m:
https://exchange.dnv.com/exchange/main.aspx?extool=vessel&subview=dimensions&vesselid=27051

[Tuomas Romu]

The figures might be a bit off, but the hull of the drilling platform has rotational symmetry. The diameter of the main deck is 81 meters, so in that respect Kulluk is 81 metres "wide" from every direction regardless of what DNV says.

[SteKrueBe]

Hi there!
I'm pretty shure, the classification society knows quite exactly about the dimensions of each unit classified by them. An at a closer look to the 'Kulluk', one can clearly see, that the platform itself is of rotational symmetry but there are additional crane- and heliplatforms exceeding the deck - those platforms make a difference in the lenght over all.
Brgds,
Stefan

[Tuomas Romu]

I disagree. It simply will not fit.



I guess the problem is that whoever put that information to DNV Exchange didn't really understand that the nearly circular vessel can be as long as it is wide. I assume 69.24 m is probably pretty close to the diameter of the waterline, but the external beam (Bext) is still at least 81 m.

[ChasB46]

Photo and dimensions/drawings here to argue about http://www.mxak.org/community/kulluk/kullukmore.html

[Robert Smith]

That's an interesting discussion about dimensions especially taking into account with a bit of bad luck she may be a wreck shortly !

 

[Tuomas Romu]

I didn't really get your point. I like correcting errors made by worldwide classification societies :>

[davidships]

Interesting.  It all begs the question of which line is length and which is breadth and who decides (just possibly related to the period that she was being fitted with azimuthing thrusters)

[Tuomas Romu]

In Kulluk's case, Loa ≥ D and Bext ≥ D, where D is the diameter of the main deck. If there are appendages such as cranes or thrusters (which have been removed), then the length and/or the beam will be greater than the dimensions of the circular main deck, but it still remains as the absolute lower limit for the main dimensions.