It looks like Shell is capping off its embarrassing, disaster-prone year of trying and failing to drill in the Arctic with yet another high-profile mishap: The Kulluk, one of two oil rigs sent north to do exploratory drilling this summer, was evacuated after the ship that was towing it experienced multiple engine failures in the midst of a storm. Shell lost control of the oil rig; it was set adrift in the icy seas until it was eventually recaptured.
The U.S. Coast Guard safely evacuated 18 crew members after the Aviq, the tugboat pulling it, stalled in stormy waters. Here's the USCG video of the evacuation:
The USCG is currently assisting engineers aboard the Aviq, helping to repair the broken engines.
Now, green groups have been vocally protesting Shell's expedition to drill in the Arctic for precisely the reasons illuminated in this event: the Arctic is nasty. Drilling there means navigating those rocky, freezing waters. Drilling there means routinely risking disaster—and risking the pristine habitats and the lives of rescuer crews that will inevitably get involved.
The US Secretary of the Interior and Shell CEOs alike have admitted as much in public, noting that a spill is pretty much inevitable. And as we're glimpsing here today, Shell appears unprepared to deal with the harsh realities of the Arctic environs.
Bear in mind that the evacuation today was entirely precautionary—the crew weren't in any immediate danger, according to both Shell and the Coast Guard. But the situation was clearly spiraling downward, which happened during Shell's virgin run in the Arctic.
If ever there was a time to plan for all contingencies, to ensure that you're taking as few risks as possible, while all the world's eyes are on your efforts to drill in some of the harshest waters on earth, you'd think that this would be it. I mean, the Yes Men even staged a viral prank wherein a booze-dispensing model of the Kulluk—yes, the same!—malfunctioned at a fake party for drilling industry executives.
That's right. The joke was that Shell was so inept that even the model of its Kulluk drilling rig wouldn't work. Not even the Yes Men could have guessed that the real one wouldn't either.