Shell Barge Arrives in Alaska
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Friday, June 12, 2015
The Arctic Challenger, an oil spill containment barge, that had left Bellingham, north of Seattle, and was headed toward Dutch Harbor, in Unalaska, off mainland Alaska, reached port in Alaska on Wednesday, June 10, for a brief stop before heading to the Chukchi Sea to support exploratory oil drilling.
The vessel is moored on the Aleutian Islands in Dutch Harbor, where the U.S. Coast Guard is beefing up its patrols in case activists show up at the fishing community to protest Royal Dutch Shell’s plans to drill this summer, according to KTUU TV.
The Arctic Challenger is one of about two dozen support vessels that will accompany drilling rigs slated to resume a search for fossil fuels as soon as next month in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, among the world's most ecologically sensitive regions.
Meanwhile, A federal court affirmed the Obama administration’s oversight of Shell’s plans for cleaning up an oil spill should one occur during its work in the Arctic Ocean, delivering a blow to environmentalists who argued the government’s scrutiny was superficial.