US Coast Guard lifts 18 personel off Kulluk in 100kph winds
Submitted by Jeff Buster on Wed, 01/02/2013 - 17:00.
You can find more Coast Guard images of the Kulluk adrift and grounded here on the US Coast Guard media link.
This type of rescue rigging operation is more dangerous than going after Bin Ladin. If you want blood chilling excitement for a good cause, this would be it. I hope the Coast Guard is able legislatively to give Shell an invoice for the service.
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Kulluk worry is spilling 140,000 gals of fuel - we are crazy
This is how mind control works: focus on what is insignificant to distract from the significant.
There are about 140,000 gallons of fuel on the Kulluk - which may have already spewed into the ocean - or will soon when the rig ruptures further.
INSIGNIFICANT
Because every day the world spews 3,570,000,000 (three and a half billion) gallons of oil into the air via combustion.
No one talks about it because the fumes are invisible.
Sick.
Invisible or not, we are poisoning the globe.
Let's talk about the 140,000 gallons instead. Walruses are at danger.
Shell Kulluk forensics - Aiviq - water in fuel?
All four engines on the towing vessel Aiviq shut down right when the storm they were towing Kulluk through got really fierce. All four engines shutting down at once strongly suggests a main line fuel or fuel pump or fuel filter or water in fuel problem.
When it get bad it gets worse - quick. That's the law of the sea - and life on land too. Take a look at the Shipwrecklog and you will see that there are shipwrecks everyday around the world (but we humans can operate nuclear reactors without any problems?)
The Aiviq was built in Louisiana - was the design adequate for Artic weather?
One forensic theory would be this: the fuel tank(s) on the Aivig were not bottom-drained frequently (standard maintence with any Diesel) and consequently the tanks accumulated water at the bottom. As the storm tossed the Aiviq more and more violently, the fuel began to homogonize the water and fuel until water/fuel mixture got pulled into the engine fuel uptake lines in a quantity which shut down the engines.
A second scenario might be that the fuel tank(s) were low, the ship was tossed to the point that the fuel pump(s) pulled in a slug of air from the fuel tank(s) and this caused the fuel pumps to cavitate and lose their prime. Engines won't run on air!
Let's see how these theories pan out.
Shell threaten's discussers of Kulluk to "full extent of law"
" *Please note that any suggestion, private or public, including Tweets, Facebook statuses, or articles, that this event may in any way be due to structural malfunction or puts the environment at even greater risk will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law."
The above note is at the bottom of Shell's link here http://arcticready.com/classic-kulluk.
Well, isn't Shell Corporate full of themselves! Shell is telling me what I can write about! And what I can't mention...
Wow! These Corporate guys are powerful folks!
I can't talk about " that this event may in any way be due to structural malfunction or puts the environment at even greater risk".
If this doesn't channel where Shell feels their liability is and where their soft underbelly is - then what could?
Congress: when you have your hearings on drilling in the Actic - make sure you ask Shell what this on line discussion threat was about.
And, of course, the out-of-control 4-engines-off Aiviq and the grounding of the Kulluk demonstrate that Shell Oil is putting the environment at greater risk. Shell is making such poor logistics decisions that they have shown their Corporation is clearly out of control structurally - their logistics are bent and irrational - pulling the Kulluk out of the Actic in December. We don't need social media to spread this truth.
And, there is another major "structural malfunction" inside Shell Corporate: they have hired media shills who threaten my first amendment rights! That's a BIG Shell MALFUNCTION!
I have copied the full web page below so it won't go away:
It's not just the oil—it's the challenge!
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison
Yes, the reports are true. Our 266-ft drilling barge containing over 140,000 gallons of diesel fuel has run aground in a highly sensitive ecosystem off the coast of southern Alaska.
But what is failure but a bump on the road to triumph?
In fact, we consider this an auspicious beginning to our 2013 Arctic adventure. Contrary to the numerous warnings by scientists, environmental activists, and people indigenous to the region, we take this recent occurrence as a sign that Shell is in the right place, doing the right thing. Nature has spoken, and it’s asking the Kulluk to stay a while longer.
Shell remains Arctic Ready!
Just why is the Alaskan coast so fond of the Kulluk? Let’s explore.
Built in 1983 by the Japanese Mitsui company, the Kulluk drilling platform is vintage, tried and tested technology that exemplifies the best of Shell's Let's Go! fleet. Among the Kulluk's exciting technologies are a 24-foot diameter glory hole bit for drilling deep in the ice, a 20,000-foot drill pipe, 160-foot derrick, 49.5-foot rotary table, 1000-hp top drive, 500-ton swivel, and a 400,000-pound drill string compensator!
Though the Kulluk is now almost 30 years old, she was inactive for fourteen of them, making her as reliable as a much younger craft.
The Kulluk is designed for safety, and has her own emergency rescue boat, two inflatable escape slides, four 54-person survival crafts, and an onboard hospital. She's also comfortable to work on, and has her own recreation room and sauna.
The Kulluk first came to Alaska in September 1988 when she drilled an exploratory well for the Amoco Production Company at the Belcher Prospect in the Beaufort Sea in 167 feet of water. (One of this year's wells will target depths over 12,000 feet!) In 1992 and 1993, she drilled four exploratory wells for Arco Alaska at the Kuvlum and Wild Weasel Prospects. After that, the Kulluk was stored for fourteen years in McKinley Bay near Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories of Canada. She was due to be sold for scrap before Shell rescued her for new glories.
The Kulluk has recently been upgraded with new electronics. Her hull has been fully repaired, making her as Arctic ready as it's possible for a rig to be! To celebrate the Kulluk's revival, we've also significantly improved the look of the vessel, with a keel-to-topmast repainting job. And to make life more pleasant for Arctic-going workers, we've remodelled some interiors.
No oil company has ever operated in an environment as extreme as the Arctic, let alone with heritage equipment—yet that's exactly the sort of challenge that makes the Arctic so appealing to Shell.
On the slight chance that something does go wrong, Shell's spill cleanup plan is second to none. No one has yet fully determined how to clean up an oil spill in pack ice or broken ice—but that too is exactly the sort of challenge we love.
Let's Go!
*Please note that any suggestion, private or public, including Tweets, Facebook statuses, or articles, that this event may in any way be due to structural malfunction or puts the environment at even greater risk will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.
Aiviq engine failure theories - No word from Shell or Aiviq
During the WWars they cautioned "loose lips sink ships".
This is how corporations operate today - like everything is a huge secret and a huge liability threat.
Aiviq, a recently constructed super-tug, loses 4 main engines in a storm - and everyone is sworn to secrecy.
Even with each sailor having a cell phone, internet, and probably a shore leave (by now), nothing has been "leaked" about the reasons for the engine stoppage.
Why doesn't the public have a right to this information? After all, Shell is exposing our environment to serious damage with Arctic exploration which is clearly over Shell's head - and they get to remain silent? No need to explain anything?
Sounds like Fukushima and Tokyo Electric
Here is a link to a gCaptain discussion of whether sea water could have been forced into the fuel tank vents causing the Aiviq engine stoppage.
Aiviq engine failure - why still No word from Shell or Aiviq?
Engine failures on Aiviq still unexplained as of January 23, 2013. Corporate secrets to keep the public in the dark about the real risks of the extraction of wealth from the Public environment.
The climatechangepsychology blog has a report that the Aiviq's towing capacity was never certified by any oversight regulator. Scroll down on the blog to read the report
Media coverage
Google Kulluk - and REALNEO comes up as one of the top results. Why is the national media ignoring this story??
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/shell-hoped-save-millions-taxes-mo...