1992 off ANWR . . .
Owned by Beaudrill Gulf Limited, a Canadian Company...
Tended by specially designed ice-breaking anchor
handling tug supply vessels . . .
Drilling in moderate ice conditions off ANWR . . .
Anchored in relatively shallow water . . .
Carefully monitored by her escorts . . .
The most sophisticated arctic drilling rig of her time . . .
KULLUK is drilling where no U.S. drilling rig has ever been . . .
Massive equipment bristles from her derrick . . .
Special protective shield to prevent damage to blow out
preventer by ice scouring the bottom of the arctic ocean . . .
Driller goes about his duties high above the drill floor . . .
High pressure bottles for hydraulic rams to shut in well pressure...
Mud room equipment for tamping down any over
pressure from a kick from the well bore . . .
Drill pipe and casing ready on the rig floor . . .
Rescue boat stands ready should anyone fall into the icy water . . .
Survival capsule hangs ready should disaster strike . . .
Helicopter landing deck . . .
After this job rig is stacked near Tuktoyaktuk in Canada
for 14 years until purchased by Shell . . .
KULLUK is towed by TOR VIKING II
from Canada to Dutch Harbor . . .
Arriving in Dutch Harbor . . .
She waits at anchor for a new assignment still
sporting her Beaudrill logo on her derrick . . .
Her previous tug supply vessels have been sold off to
new owners and reflagged to other countries . . .
ARCTIC KALVIK shown here is now the
Russian flag VLADIMIR IGNATYUK
. . .
A
The CANMAR IKALUK shown here is now
the Russian flag SMIT SIBU . . .
Moored in Dutch Harbor Captains Bay . . .
Late June 2011, KULLUK departs Dutch Harbor under tow for Seattle for modifications to her air emissions controls. . .
KULLUK arrives at Seattle's Vigor Shipyard
assisted by Western Towboat towing vessels . . .
KULLUK departing Vigor Shipyard in Seattle for the Beaufort Sea in June 27,2012 under tow by the icebreaking tug suppply vessel AIVIQ . . .
KULLUK is followed departing Puget Sound by the drill ship NOBLE DISCOVERER . . .
KULLUK's hull was painted blue on the advice of whaling captains who stated that this color was less likely to alarm bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea where the ship is to drill . . .
After the end of the drilling season the KULLUK was being towed from Dutch Harbor to Seattle when the towline broke in a winter storm in the Gulf of Alaska. Coast Guard helicopters evacuated thew crew on December 29, 2012 . . .
The AIVIQ and NANUK were unable to maintain the tow and KULLUK drifted ashore on Sitkalidak Island on New Year's
Eve. . .December 31, 2012 . . .
April 2013 the KULLUK is raised up onboard the Chinese
heavy lift vessel XIANG RUI KOU for transport to
Singapore for repairs . . .