Kulluk in an uncontrolled, unplanned, totally screwed-up situation

Jan 5th, 2013

by John Donovan.

It could take until spring for crews to remove a grounded oil-drilling ship from rocks near a remote Alaska island, thanks to the fury of the North Pacific winter, a veteran marine salvager said. "Now it's in an uncontrolled, unplanned, totally screwed-up situation"…

Alaska winter will challenge Shell ship salvage

DAN JOLING | January 5, 2013 03:16 PM EST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — It could take until spring for crews to remove a grounded oil-drilling ship from rocks near a remote Alaska island, thanks to the fury of the North Pacific winter, a veteran marine salvager said.

The Kulluk, a Royal Dutch Shell PLC barge, ran aground during a fierce year-end storm, and more than 600 people are working on its recovery. But Dan Magone, who has worked on other major groundings in Alaska, said he'd be surprised if they can remove it any time soon.

"I'd really be shocked if this thing is so lightly aground and so lightly damaged that they can just go pull this thing off right away," said Magone, president of Magone Marine, in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Dutch Harbor.

The Kulluk is a circular barge 266 feet in diameter with a funnel-shaped, reinforced steel hull that allows it to operate in ice. One of two Shell ships that drilled last year in the Arctic Ocean, it has a 160-foot derrick rising from its center and no propulsion system of its own.

The vessel was being towed to Seattle last week when a line broke in heavy seas. Re-attached lines broke four more times, and it ran aground New Year's Eve on Sitkalidak Island, less than a mile from Kodiak Island.

Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation said Saturday that crews had found no sign that the vessel's hull had been breached or that oil had been spilled.

"Now it's in an uncontrolled, unplanned, totally screwed-up situation," Magone said. "Now you're going to go out there and fight the Gulf of Alaska, the Alaskan winter? I don't think so."

Smit Salvage, the Dutch company hired to salvage the Kulluk, referred calls to Shell, which has said it's too early to predict when the barge might be moved.

Magone is not working on the salvage of the Kulluk but has experience with other major groundings, including the Selendang Ayu, a cargo shipwrecked in December 2004 on Unalaska Island.

Magone's company is under contract for two other wrecks –fishing boats from which fuel has been removed – but he's waiting until spring to finish the job.

"The insurance company doesn't want to pay any more money than they have to to get the wrecks out of there, so why risk our equipment and our crew and spend a thousand percent more money playing around in the wintertime when you can just wait until the weather's good and do it then?" Magone said.

"That's pretty normal. Of course with a big fiasco like this, there's all kinds of pressure and everything. But there's a limit to what you can do," he said.

The first salvage crew boarded the vessel Wednesday and assessmentscontinue.

Shell has reported superficial damage above the deck and seawater within that entered through open hatches. Water has knocked out regular and emergency generators, but portable generators were put on board Friday.

The condition of the hull will be key in determining whether the Kulluk can be refloated.

The Coast Guard must review and sign off on a salvage plan. Brian Thomas of the Coast Guard's salvage engineering response team in Washington, D.C., said the team's marine engineers give technical advice and assess risks.

If salvors want to stage equipment on the island, they will need the OK of the landowner, wildlife managers and environmental officials. There are also safety considerations for the crewmembers involved.

Magone expects the Coast Guard to require removal of fuel on board. Salvors already are fighting time and the elements.

"This is the absolute worst time of year to mess with that thing over there," Magone said. "If they can't get it out of there in a few weeks, it's going to be a wreck removal in the springtime."

From damage reports so far, he's guessing the best Shell can hope for is that the Kulluk will not be a total loss and can be rebuilt.

"But it's out of commission," he said. "They've lost the use of it for next year's drilling season, and that's really disheartening for everybody."

SOURCE

Posted in: Alaska, Archive, Associated Press, Oil, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

← Royal Dutch Shell Executive Nebahat Albayrak

US Army joins battle to save stricken Shell rig →

The BP disaster: Who said 'this would be impossible in Shell?'

Jan 4th, 2013

by John Donovan.

COMMENT RECEIVED FROM A SHELL RELATED SOURCE

Amidst all the news on Kulluk, let's not forget about the other one

This is what you get if you use old stuff from the scrap yard…

Remember the hypocritical "blistering attack" by Shell CEO Peter Voser on BP over the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill:

Voser promised that Shell would never make the same mistakes as BP.

Since then, blunders and corner-cutting has led to the current debacle.

To me it is all about technical competence.

Many moons ago the Troll project was delivered on time and within budget. This was more innovative and challenging than drilling some wells in Alaska. But then we had the likes of Chapman in charge and not corner-cutting bean-counters like Voser and Henry.

What about the statements of that smug retired HR toad Hofmeister???  He also dumped on BP (and Hayward) whilecampaigning for Shell to be given a green light to drill in the Arctic.Should never listen to fast talking americans.

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, BP, Environment, GoogleNews, Oil, Peter Voser, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Simon Henry, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · John Hofmeister · Kulluk· Noble Discoverer · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

← Shell completely incapable of safely drilling in the Arctic

BBC NEWS: Day in pictures: 4 January 2013 →

Seven Benefits of Eating Papaya

Tommy Fassbender, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Apr 21, 2008 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

• MORE:
• Papaya

CREDIT:www.free-picture.net

If you are like me you've probably eaten a papaya without giving a second thought to the benefits of the papaya you're eating. You've probably just savored its sweet taste and butter-like consistency and left it at that. Sure, you now that papaya is a fruit; you rightfully assume it's good for you, but know that the benefits of eating papaya go far beyond the generic boost of vitamin C.

Papaya Contains Antioxidants

One of the benefits of eating papaya is that it helps to prevent cancer. Papaya is a rich source of antioxidants that the body needs to fight against cancer-causing cells. Vitamin C, E and beta-carotenes are antioxidants that prevent all kinds of cancers. So adding a daily serving of papaya to your diet may lessen your risk of developing cancer.

Papaya is Used to Treat Digestive Disorders

Papaya is a great source of proteolytic enzymes that are very important in digesting food. The most important of these proteolytic enzymes found in papaya is papain. Papain breaks down proteins in food, allowing for better digestion. Papain is used in prescription of digestive enzymes to treat individuals with cystic fibrosis or pancreatic conditions; producing for them what the body cannot produce naturally. Eating papaya is also a benefit because papain taken orally treats less serious digestion disorders such as bloating and chronic indigestion. In these cases papain is extracted, dried and sold as tablets.

Papaya Boosts Male Virility

Another great benefit of papaya is to boost male virility. Papaya contains an enzyme called arginine which is known in the medically community to boost blood flow around the penis. Arginine boosts nitric acid in the body to relax the muscles surrounding the blood vessels tat supply the penis. These blood vessels then dilate and increase blood flow. A more concentrated form of arginine is used to treat erectile dysfunction.

Papaya Prevents Premature Aging

Many alternative medical practitioners believe that one of the benefits of papaya is to control premature aging. Papaya helps the body to properly digest food and when the body digests all the nutrients it needs, the body will remain vital for a long time.

Papaya is Used as a Cleanser

Taking a quarter pint (150ml) of papaya juice, cucumber juice and green bean juice in alternating hours for 12 hours can be a benefit to your colon. These juices work as potent natural cleansers when combined.

Papaya is also rich in fiber, which travels through the body and binds itself to cancer-causing toxins in the colon. The fiber in papaya flushes out the toxins in the colon and so one of the benefits of papaya is that it helps prevent colon cancer especially, due to its antioxidants and its fiber content.

Papaya Prevents Heart Attacks and Strokes

The antioxidants in papaya prevent cholesterol from oxidizing. When cholesterol becomes oxidized it forms plaque in the blood vessel walls that can eventually build up and cause a heart attack or stroke.

Also, fiber is known to lower cholesterol. The fiber in papaya converts a substance called homocysteine into harmless amino acids that the body can process, but without the breakdown, homocysteine can eventually damage blood vessel walls, causing strokes or heart attacks.

Papaya Treats Inflammation

Papain and chymopapain, protein-digestive enzymes found in papaya lowers inflammation and improve healing from burns. Papain breaks down the inactive proteins in the skin, removing dead tissue from burns. This benefits the body as it helps heal skin injuries, relieves psoriasis, removes warts, treats ringworms and cold sores.

Also vitamins C, E and beta carotenes are good at reducing inflammation and as such these nutrients are used to treat asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis among many other inflammatory ailments.

Published by Tommy Fassbender

A journalist who enjoys sharing knowledge with the world and hearing what everyone else has to say. I have been writing for years and is happy to finding an outlet like this to express myself.  View profile

Shell completely incapable of safely drilling in the Arctic

Jan 4th, 2013

by John Donovan.

"In just one year, Shell has proven over and over again that they are completely incapable of safely drilling in the Arctic. Their ships have caught fire and lost control, they've damaged their own spill containment equipment, and they've been caught entirely unprepared for the challenges of the Arctic. Now, they've actually run a ship carrying tens of thousands of gallons of oil aground in Alaska. This is the last straw. We should judge Shell not by their assurances or their PR tactics, but by their record – and Shell's record clearly demonstrates that letting them operate in the Arctic is an invitation for disaster."

For Immediate Release
Sierra Club85 2nd St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
sierra.news@sierraclub.org
www.sierraclub.org/pressroom
January 3, 2013
Contact: Trey Pollard, Sierra Club, (202) 495-3058

"The Last Straw" – After Shell's Latest Failure, Sierra Club Calls for Drilling Permits to Be Immediately Revoked

(Kodiak Island, AK) – On Monday, Royal Dutch Shell Oil drilling ship Kulluk ran aground near Kodiak Island, Alaska – the latest in a long list of failures by Shell in the company's much-hyped but continuously failed attempt to drill in the Arctic.

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement in response:

"In just one year, Shell has proven over and over again that they are completely incapable of safely drilling in the Arctic. Their ships have caught fire and lost control, they've damaged their own spill containment equipment, and they've been caught entirely unprepared for the challenges of the Arctic. Now, they've actually run a ship carrying tens of thousands of gallons of oil aground in Alaska.
This is the last straw. We should judge Shell not by their assurances or their PR tactics, but by their record – and Shell's record clearly demonstrates that letting them operate in the Arctic is an invitation for disaster.
America's Arctic – whether offshore or in the Arctic Refuge – is the last place we should be drilling for oil and gas. If we are serious about fighting climate disruption and protecting our wild places, the President should immediately cancel Shell's drilling permits before it is too late, and ensure the Arctic is off-limits for new oil and gas leasing and drilling this year and every year."
SOURCE

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Environment, Oil, Oil Spill, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

← Shell Drilling Barge Has Damaged Generators

THE WINDOW FROM WHICH WE LOOK

From: Alfred Clayton

Date: Sat, Jan 5, 2013 at 2:44 PM

The  Window from which we look

A   young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

                
The next morning while  they are eating breakfast, the  young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry  is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash  correctly.  Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her   husband looked on, but remained silent. Every  time her neighbor would hang her wash to  dry, the young woman  would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line  and said to her  husband, "Look, she  has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her  this."

The husband  said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our  windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window  through which we look!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

From: Alfred Clayton 

Date: Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 4:43 PM

 Have a Very Healthy and Happy New Year...

   

Throughout the rest of this Year and all of 2013..    May you always make the right moves. May your cup runneth over with love. May you always find shelter from any storm. May you remain good looking  and looking good! May you find the perfect diet for your soul. (If this face doesn't make you want to  stop eating sausage, nothing will.) May you find perfect balance  in the company you keep. May you have as much fun as you can  before someone makes you stop. May the worst thing that happens to you  come in slobbery pink and furry tan. May you manage to make time for siesta. May all the new folks you meet  be interesting and kind. May your accessories always  harmonize with your natural beauty! Should your mouth be bigger than your  stomach, may you have a  chewing good time! May you always know when to walk away  and know when to run. And may your friends always bring you joy! MAY YOU HAVE A  WONDERFUL NEW YEAR FILLED WITH LOVE,  HAPPINESS, AND HOPE.

HILLTOP NEW YEAR'S EVE

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Jun Banaag ...Sa aking pagtanda

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Shell's Alaska Mishaps Continue in Monster Seas

Dec 29th, 2012

by John Donovan.

Coast Guard cutter hits trouble trying to aid Shell rig off Alaska

The Aiviq and Kulluk as they set sail from Seattle earlier this year for offshore drilling in Alaska (Royal Dutch Shell / December 28, 2012)

By Kim MurphyDecember 28, 2012, 2:59 p.m.

SEATTLE — Adding to a season full of headaches for Shell Alaska's debut offshore drilling program in the U.S. Arctic, the company's Kulluk drilling rig was stuck in monster seas off the coast of Alaska on Friday as its tugboat's engines failed and the Coast Guard cutter that came to assist became entangled in a tow line.

There were no immediate threats to crew or equipment, but Shell Alaska was rushing additional aid vessels to the scene as the Kulluk, which drilled the beginnings of an exploratory oil well in the Beaufort Sea over the summer, sat without ability to move forward in 20-foot seas about 50 miles south of Kodiak.

"You become at the mercy of the seas when you don't have propulsion. The boat is going to go where the seas push it,"  Coast Guard Petty Officer 1^st Class David Mosley told the Los Angeles Times. "Twenty-foot seas, my office here, the ceilings are 10 feet high, and you're looking at double that."

Shell Alaska officials said emergency power generators were enabling the tug vessel, the Aiviq, to avoid significant drift, even with the 266-foot Kulluk drilling barge, which does not have its own propulsion engines, in tow.

Coast Guard officials said the Aiviq, which had been towing the Kulluk south from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, after the close of the drilling season, experienced not only tow line problems but  "multiple engine failures," and the Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley was deployed to try to help.

"They were towing in some heavy weather, and they lost the tow [line] between the Kulluk and the Aiviq," Mosley said. "They were able to reconnect, and as they started to tow again, the two vessels ended up with some issues on board that directly affected their engines — it sounds like it was a fuel issue. Not necessarily running out of fuel, but a fuel quality issue."

After working on the problem, he said, "They were able to get one engine back, which is giving them enough power to stay in their position, keep them from drifting anywhere."

Meanwhile, the Alex Haley had problems of its own when crew members attempted to attach a tow line from the Haley to one of the Shell vessels to help maintain positioning in the heavy seas.

"They were unsuccessful in doing that maneuver," Mosley said. The problem was compounded when the Haley's tow line got wrapped on one of the ship's own propellers. "It was the Alex Haley's tow line, and it is reported that one of the screws got fouled with the line," Mosley said, forcing the Haley to return to port.

"The Alex Haley is still maneuverable and operable, just at a limited capacity," he said.

A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft was sent from Kodiak to the scene to maintain a safety watch, while Shell dispatched additional vessels to help. "We are currently cascading assets into the theater to help secure the Aiviq and the Kulluk," Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said in an email.

However, the dispatch of those additional vessels is likely to delay the departure from Alaska of Shell's second Arctic drilling rig, the Noble Discoverer, which had been held up by the Coast Guard in Seward, Alaska, because of reported "discrepancies" in its safety and pollution discharge equipment.

The Discoverer had been scheduled to depart Seward for Seattle for additional maintenance and adjustments, but Smith said the dispatch of Shell's response vessels to aid the Kulluk means the Discoverer will likely be delayed.

Smith said the company's main focus is the 17 crew members on board the Kulluk and the 24 aboard the Aiviq.

"Our priority remains the safety of our personnel and the environment," he said. "All of our efforts are dedicated to making sure the crews on these vessels are safe."

SOURCE

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Environment, Los Angeles Times, Oil, Oil Spill, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

← Tug Towing Shell Drilling Unit Suffers Engine Failures Near Kodiak