Salvors Board Grounded Kulluk

A salvage team aboard the Kulluk moves an emergency towing system delivered by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. US Coast Guard Photo

A team of six salvage experts boarded Shell’s grounded Kulluk drilling rig earlier today to conduct a structural assessment to be used to finalize salvage plans, the Kulluk incident Unified Command said late Wednesday.

Salvage of the Kulluk will be headed by Smit Salvage, which is a unit of the Netherlands-based Royal Boskalis Westminster.

The six-member team was lowered to the Kulluk by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter at about 10:30 a.m., Wednesday and the assessment lasted 3 hours, the Unified Command said. The Coast Guard helicopter and crew also delivered a state-owned emergency towing system to the Kulluk, which will be used during salvage operations.

Efforts to place a team on-board the rig to conduct the assessment have been on hold due to severe weather conditions over the past several days. Calmer conditions Wednesday morning created a window that enabled the assessment to take place, the Unified Command said.

The information gained from today’s on-site assessment will help the team to evaluate the available options for freeing the rig from its grounded position on the southeast shore of Sitkalidak Island, situated about 40 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Alaska. The assessment team returned to Coast Guard Air Station/Kodiak following the boarding.

Earlier Updates: Kulluk Incident

For those of you that have been asking, here is a profile view of the Kulluk’s hull.