Shell Drill Ship Runs Aground (updated)
Remember last week when Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said, “I don’t believe there will be an oil spill?” He was talking about Shell’s offshore arctic drilling in the Beaufort and Chuckchi Seas.
I wonder if anyone asked Ken Salazar if he “believed” that Shell wouldn’t even be able to get the drill rig to the drilling site without running it aground? Because, guess what? It did.
Well, they didn’t say it “ran aground.” The official story from Shell’s spokesman Curtis Smith (who may or may not be Sarah Palin’s former spokesman Curtis Smith) was: “Today, while moored off the coast of Dutch Harbor, the Noble Discoverer drill ship drifted toward land and stopped very near the coast.”
Isn’t that what happened to the Exxon Valdez?
~Yup, that looks like it’s pretty near the coast… (photo by Kristjan Laxfoss, Unalaska)
The Coast Guard is now investigating why it is that the 500-foot drill ship, The Noble Discoverer, ran aground stopped very near the coast, while a dozen residents stood on shore watching the vessel pull anchor and drift without the accompaniment of a tugboat.
This all comes on the heels of The Coast Guard’s refusal to certify Shell’s oil spill containment barge as it is currently configured. They believe it is not adequate to perform in the severe weather it is likely to encounter. I guess nobody told them about Ken Salazar’s beliefs. Because, that really does make all the difference.
~Yes, I think it stopped. (Photo by Veda Webb, Unalaska)
The Noble Discoverer may have suffered some damage when it “came very close to shore and stopped.” Despite this, one resident of Unalaska, Longshoreman David Howard told KUCB he thinks that Shell and the crew got lucky.
“Fortunately, where it got grounded, it was pretty soft in here,” he says. “There’s not a big bunch of sharp rocks out there. It’s fortunate to have gone up here rather than out on the S-curves, where there’s a lot of rocky areas that might compromise the hull.”
Shell got lucky, indeed. But, there’s always next time.
UPDATE:
There’s another story in the Anchorage Daily News today, in which Shell says that the ship did NOT run aground, and didn’t suffer damage. I’m guessing that the longshoreman who lives there guessed it right. They got lucky in that the area wasn’t rocky, and was soft sediment. As far as denying the thing ran aground? I refer you to the second picture above. A lucky break doesn’t mean this is OK.
Ground ground run aground
I run aground
Yeah
Get aground ground ground I run aground
I run aground
It seems to me that it is an example of Not in My Back Yard. The Shell people don’t live in Alaska, do they? They just want to make money there. If things don’t go well (as in any sort of spill, large or small), they make some sort of show of trying to clean it up, pay a relatively small amount of money and they go home. They don’t have to look at it or smell it or deal with it for the years it will still be there. No, they will be off trying to drill for oil somewhere else, also not in their back yard. Disgusting lot, they are.
My theory goes sorta like this,see-Rust Limpaw and Rep.Don Young were digging up dirt on Libs in Alaska and they dug so much dirt that it naturally filled the ocean so full that Shell’s driller couldn’t float no more. Then the two miscreants blamed Obama for making the ocean shallower and demanded a Congressional investigation that will last until after the election. To pay for the investigation Limpaw and Young called for more taxcuts for the Koch Bros and oil companies and blamed Libs for the increased deficits. While digging the two found the rear entrance to Chinese banks and gave all the money to the 1%.They also found a penny and established another copper mine to kill off all remaining salmon and left a large enough hole to bury any remaining Polar Bears that survive global warming. And rwnj lived happily eveafter.
I think we need to ask the 6 visible people on the ship how long a yard is, myself .
175 of em , eh?
Thanks for an early morning laugh Mikey 🙂
Take it from this former sailor: mud, sand, rock, it’s all the same: it’s AGROUND! The Coasties know the reality, but since the lessor, Shell, has the final say, that’s pretty much what gets released. And yes, my cutter did pull into Unalaska a few times, not the most fun harbor for an anchorage.
“Came very close to the shore and stopped” my a$$. If anyone believes that, I’ve got a cruise ship for sale, only used once, goes by the name “Titanic.”
WhoEVER could have predicted that (apart from you, me, Jeanne, Shannyn, Linda, Rick Steiner, Greg Palast, NRDC, Earthjustice, Greenpeace, Oceana … )? Nice going, juneaudream. Neat Jedi mind trick, there (or was it Vulcan, I forget). I hope you are not arrested for bioterrorism under the USA-PATRIOT Act. If you are, I’ll help raise your bail.
Shell took a huge leap backward in terms of credibility. Do they (and the U.S. Coast Guard) think that nobody in Dutch Harbor owns a camera? Their claims that the ship got no closer than 175 yards to shore appear a little a far fetched when compared to the photos.
They forgot that they can only lie once their operations and mishaps are way up north when prying eyes and cameras cant keep tabs on them. Curtis “Pinocchio” Smith should get a huge flaming pants award for this one.
A leap backwards? More like a giant Kersplat- bellyflop! I give this a 3 Pinocchios…
I’m really not good at estimating distance, but even I can tell that is close than 175 yards. Who are they kidding? They must think people are really stupid that they would believe that story or not check it out for themselves.
If you measure from the stern you get 500 feet divided by 3 feet equals 166.667 yards which means the bow is at least 8.33 yards from the shore or 8.33 times 3 equals 24.99 feet from shore. Yup,that could be 175 yards from shore. Any wonder that Ioway has world class edification facsimiles? We’uns be smart with are cipherings.
Ok..it just..fries moi crispers..to admit this..but this ..’librul’..was hoping for..such an event. Yes..by pure vulcan mind force and enviro-type concerns..I was able to send those ..energy waves..into such a position as to..force ..some land up..way up from usual level..and thus..have..personally acted to..compromise that rig. All of you know..how extraordinarily well built..those are, how modern they are..and how well staffed..before sensitive ‘duty’..like this. Yuppers folks..I have created a minidisaster..almost..and am thrilled I did. Someone wanna come on down to my farm..and throw on a pair of plastic restraints? Of course there are those who do! They cannot have..been wrong, misjudged the situations..NO! It is all about ..corps making money..and who..would ..Lie About That….? Poor dear Shell..oh m’goodness folks..step this way and buy a ticket..this show..is…….just beginning!!
Who the hell put land so close to the ocean? Maybe they were looking for an inland passage to the Far East for the spice trade. OT-Dan Rather Reports did a show on AXS-TV today about Native Alaskan’s concerns about salmon fisheries in Bristol Bay and their fears of pollution from Pebble Mine. Sorry about this-there hasn’t been an open thread for a while.
There is a line in the movie Benny and Join where a housekeeper is quiting and tells Benny “When the ship runs aground, the sea has spoken.” I think that’s what we have here.
Benny and Joon! Not Benny and Join. Lol
How many accidents will it take to convince the powers that be that oil companies are dangerous to themselves and others and are sorely in need of constant regulated supervision?