Shell nearly finished modifying Arctic drill ship
From the air, the Arctic drill ship Kulluk looks like a giant bowling pin seated on a shallow bowl.
By TED WARREN and DAN JOLING
Associated Press: Friday 25 May 2012
SEATTLE —
From the air, the Arctic drill ship Kulluk looks like a giant bowling pin seated on a shallow bowl.
With the centerpiece of the ship, the 160-foot derrick, Shell Oil hopes to send down drill bits and pipe to tap vast oil reserves below the Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s north coast. But it’s the funnel-shape hull, with its flared sides, that makes the ship appropriate for Arctic Ocean waters, according to the company.