2012 grounding
On 31 December 2012, Kulluk drifted aground off Sitkalidak Island in the Gulf of Alaska.[7] Up until October the rig had been working in the Beaufort Sea, off the Alaska North Slope. She was being towed to her winter home in Seattle when she encountered a storm, and the incident occurred. The United States Coast Guard evacuated her 18-man crew on 29 December. On New Year's Eve, tug crews were ordered by the United States Coast Guard to cut the rig loose, leading to her grounding.[8][9]
Kulluk's movement south for the winter was at least in part motivated by an effort to avoid State of Alaska property taxes on oil and gas extraction equipment.[10][11] The tax in question is a state property tax of 20 mills (or 2%) "on property used or committed by contract or other agreement for use for the pipeline transportation of gas or unrefined oil or for the production of gas or unrefined oil at its full and true value as of January 1 of the assessment year."[12] The tax liability for the rig was estimated at $6–7 million, based on the value of the rig.[13]
Kulluk was carrying 138000 USgal of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, 1000 USgal of aviation fuel and 12000 USgal of lubricants.[14]
On January 6, 2013, Kulluk was floated from the rocks. Satisfied the vessel was seaworthy, she was towed to shelter in nearby Kodiak Island's Kiliuda Bay.[15] After further assessment of damage, Kulluk was towed to Captains Bay, Unalaska, Alaska, where she was loaded on the heavy lift ship Xiang Rui Kou. She departed for Singapore for repair and updates in late March 2013.[16][17][18]
In October 2013, Shell said that the Kulluk would be scrapped.[19]
Until February 2014, she remained at Keppel FELS Pioneer Yard shipyard in Singapore.
In March 2014, Xiang Rui Kou towed Kulluk to a Chinese scrap yard.[20]
In April 2014, the United States Coast Guard report said that the incident was due to Shell's "inadequate assessment and management of risks" in icy, storm-tossed waters.[21]
In December 2014, Noble Corporation agreed to pay $12.2 million in fines for knowingly making false entries and failing to record its collection, transfer, storage, and disposal of oil in the Noble Discoverer's and the Kulluk's oil record books in 2012.[22]
In May 2015, a report by the National Transportation Safety Board blamed "Shell’s inadequate assessment of the risk for its planned tow" for the accident.[23][24]
