Shell applies for drilling vessel moorings

Shell has applied to Alaska’s Division of Mining, Land and Water for permission to moor two drilling vessels in Wide Bay, Summer Bay and Nateekin Bay near Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. The vessels, the Noble Discoverer and the Transocean Polar Pioneer, are the drilling units that Shell has said it plans to use for exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea in the summer of 2015.

Shell has asked that the mooring permits cover the period March 2015 to March 2019. However, the company says that, while the vessels may require temporary mooring at any of the three locations during that period, the company does not plan to locate either of the vessels continuously at any location during the full length of the permit period. The permit application says that the drilling vessels may be moored temporarily at the Dutch Harbor locations on their way to or from the Chukchi Sea. Two support tugs and three anchor handlers may assist with mooring operations.

Wide Bay would likely be the primary mooring location for the Noble Discoverer, with the Polar Pioneer using the mouth of Nateekin Bay. Shell anticipates using Summer Bay as a contingency mooring location for either drilling vessel or for support vessels, the permit application says.

Shell’s ability to drill in the Chukchi Sea in 2015 is contingent on the company obtaining all of the required permits for the drilling operations. In particular, approval of the company’s exploration plan is contingent on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issuing a new record of decision for the 2008 lease sale in which Shell purchased its Chukchi Sea leases. That BOEM decision, an outcome of a long-standing appeal against the validity of the lease sale, is expected in March. In addition, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to rule in an appeal case challenging the validity of Shell’s Chukchi Sea oil spill contingency plan.

- Alan Bailey