Noble Discoverer on its way to Asia

The Noble Discoverer drilling vessel is en-route for an Asian shipyard, having been picked up from the Alaska port of Seward by heavy-lift vessel, the Xiang Yun Kou, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith confirmed to Petroleum News in a March 13 email. According to a report in the Alaska Dispatch the Xiang Yun Kou loaded the drilling vessel on March 2 at Seward by submerging its cargo deck under the Discoverer and then refloating.

The Noble Discoverer is heading for Asia for repairs, following problems with its propulsion system.

The Kulluk, Shell’s floating drilling platform that ran aground on the south side of Kodiak Island during a storm on Dec. 31, has now been towed to Dutch Harbor. Another heavy-lift vessel, the Xiang Rui Kou, sister ship to the Xiang Yun Kou, is on its way to Dutch Harbor to carry the Kulluk to an Asian yard for the repair of damage caused by the grounding.

The Kulluk should be picked up from Dutch Harbor around March 18 to 20, Smith said.

—Alan Bailey