A Flurry of Kulluk Updates As It Moves To And Then Arrives At Kiliuda Bay

A series of communications from the Kulluk Unified Command tell us that at 10:10pm last night the Kulluk was refloated from its stranded position and then towed  about 12 hours,  45 nautical knots, to Kiliuda Bay.  They held a news briefing at 10am in Anchorage.

Here are the 9 email alerts (one, not numbered, was about the news briefing)  I got:

DATE: January 6, 2013 11:30:00 PM AKST

For more information contact:

Unified Command
voice: (907) 433-3417

Update #27: Kulluk Refloated: Assessment to Follow

January 6, 2013
ANCHORAGE, AK: At approximately 10:10 p.m., the Kulluk drilling vessel was refloated from its Sitkalidak Island position.
Currently, the Kulluk is attached to the Aiviq by tow line.  The Kulluk is currently floating offshore while personnel are assessing the condition of the vessel.  Three additional tugs are on standby along with the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley and two oil spill response vessels.  
“Following this initial step forward, we will continue to remain cautious while we assess the Kulluk’s condition,” said Martin Padilla, Incident Commander.  “We will not move forward to the next phase until we are confident that we can safely transport the vessel.”
There are currently more than 730 people involved in the response and recovery operation including local residents and a local on-site coordinator.  Following this stage of the operation there continue to be no injuries to response personnel.
Further information will follow.

DATE: January 7, 2013 1:50:00 AM AKST

Update #28: Unified Command Update

January 7, 2013, Anchorage, AK – Unified Command update for Monday, January 7, 2013

• As of 1:45 a.m. the Kulluk remains in tow by the Aiviq traveling at 4.2 knots (4.8 mph)
• The location of the Kulluk is approximately 16 miles from land 

DATE: January 7, 2013 3:35:00 AM AKST

Update #29: Unified Command Update

January 7, 2013,
Anchorage, AK – Unified Command update for Monday, January 7, 2013

• As of 3 a.m. the Kulluk remains in tow by the Aiviq traveling at 4.8 knots (5.5 mph)
• The location of the Kulluk is approximately 19 miles from land
• The Nanuq crew, utilizing infrared equipment on board, reports that there are no initial signs of a discharge of oil in the water as of 2:57 a.m. 

DATE: January 7, 2013 3:35:00 AM AKST [While this is the same time as the last one, the email itself says it arrived a 4:47am and the update is as of 4am]

Update #30: Unified Command Update

January 7, 2013,
Anchorage, AK – Unified Command update for Monday, January 7, 2013

• As of 4 a.m. the Kulluk remains in tow by the Aiviq traveling at 3.8 knots (4.3 mph) and is traveling in a northerly direction.
• The location of the Kulluk is approximately 16 miles from land.
• Results of soundings of fuel tanks taken since the Kulluk refloated are consistent with earlier soundings taken by the recovery crew.

DATE: January 7, 2013 5:35:00 AM AKST

Update #31: Unified Command Update

January 7, 2013
Anchorage, AK – Unified Command update for Monday, January 7, 2013

• As of 5:20 a.m. the Kulluk remains in tow by the Aiviq traveling at 4.1 knots (4.7 mph) and is traveling in a northerly direction.
• The location of the Kulluk is approximately eight miles from land.
• A Coast Guard overflight is scheduled at first light, weather permitting.

DATE: January 7, 2013 8:00:00 AM AKST

Update #32: Unified Command Update

Anchorage, AK – Unified Command update for Monday, January 7, 2013:

• As of 7:30 a.m. Alaska Time, the Kulluk remains in tow by the Aiviq traveling at approximately 3.5 knots (4 mph) in a northerly direction.
• The location of the Kulluk is approximately 9.6 nautical miles away from the planned anchored location in Kiliuda Bay.
• The Nanuq crew continues to utilize infrared equipment on board and reports that there are still no signs of a discharge.
• A Coast Guard overflight is scheduled at first light to look for any signs of sheen, weather permitting.

The next one shows what happens when you don't check your email before you go for a run.  I totally missed the News Briefing.

DATE: January 7, 2013 8:43:28 AM AKST

Jan. 7 - Unified Command news briefing

What: A news briefing will be held at 10 – 10:30 a.m., Alaska Time, Monday, Jan. 7. Members of Unified Command will provide an update regarding the Kulluk Tow incident response.
Who:

• Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler III, Federal On-scene Coordinator
• Steven Russell, State On-scene Coordinator
• Sean Churchfield, Incident Commander and Operations Manager for Shell Alaska
• Duane Dvorak, Kodiak Island Borough, Local On-scene Coordinator
• Tommy Travis, Noble Drilling, Vice President of Operations U.S.

Where: The news briefing will be held at Dena’ina Center, Kahtnu Meeting Room 1, 600 W. Seventh Ave., Anchorage, Alaska 99501.
When: 10-10:30 a.m., Monday, Jan. 7
Media representatives should meet at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Kahtnu Meeting Room 1 to be checked in with credentials before access is provided to the conference room. In addition, note that a mult box will be provided for broadcast media.

 I'm sure they were all pumped up because the Kulluk was on the move to safer water and there's been no sign of an oil leak.  

DATE: January 7, 2013 8:00:00 AM AKST

Update #33: Kulluk remains in tow

January 7, 2013, 9 a.m. Alaska Time
Anchorage, AK – Unified Command update for Monday, January 7, 2013:

• As of 9 a.m. Alaska Time, the Kulluk remains in tow by the Aiviq traveling at approximately 3.5 knots (4 mph) in a northerly direction.
• The location of the Kulluk is approximately 4 nautical miles away from the planned anchored location in Kiliuda Bay.
• The Nanuq crew continues to utilize infrared equipment on board and reports that there are still no signs of a discharge.
• A Coast Guard overflight is scheduled at first light to look for any signs of sheen, weather permitting.

DATE: January 7, 2013 11:02:00 AM AKST

Update #34: Kulluk arrives safely at Kiliuda Bay, will undergo assessment

Jan. 7, 2013
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Unified Command has confirmed that the Kulluk, towed by the anchor handling vessel Aiviq, approached its safe harbor location in Kiliuda Bay at approximately 10 a.m., Alaska Time. The final location for assessment within the Bay will be determined by environmental conditions, including weather.
The Kulluk traveled 45 nautical miles since the start of the tow, roughly 12 hours ago. Average speed has been 3.5 knots or 4 mph.
The Kulluk was refloated from its Ocean Bay position, off Sitkalidak Island, late Jan. 6. It will remain connected to its support vessels while it undergoes assessment in Kiliuda Bay, located about 30 miles north of Ocean Bay.
The Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley escorted the tow to Kiliuda Bay along with two oil spill response vessels and other support vessels. A 500-yard radius safety zone around the Kulluk followed the escort and remains in place in Kiliuda Bay.
Monitoring by the oil spill response vessels escorting the tow confirmed that there were no signs of a discharge of oil during the transit.
The combined fleet has 15,000 feet of boom should it be needed. Additional boom has been staged in various locations.
The Kulluk has been grounded since Dec. 31, after it broke tow during severe weather conditions.
Unified Command continues to coordinate with the Old Harbor Native Corporation to assist with any necessary cleanup activities. Additional spill response land resources have been staged in Old Harbor.
Yesterday afternoon, salvage teams successfully attached the main tow line to the Kulluk drilling unit.
The Salvage Master had the discretion to initiate the tow should favorable conditions occur throughout the night. At approximately 10:10 p.m., Jan. 6 the Kulluk was refloated.

The ADN story which says it was updated an hour ago - which should then include what happened at the news briefing - doesn't add much.  But another story by Rich Mauer has some interesting thoughts from others in the business about how things look.  The title sums the article up:  Kulluk's Ability To Take A Beating Impresses Experts.

[UPDATE 4:22pm AKTime]  One more update came through:

DATE: January 7, 2013 3:25:00 PM AKST

For more information contact:

Update #35: Unified Command confirms Kulluk is safely anchored

January 7, 2013
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Unified Command confirmed that the Kulluk has arrived in its final safe harbor location in Kiliuda Bay where it will undergo assessment. At approximately 12:15 p.m. Alaska Time the Kulluk’s anchor was lowered to the bottom of the Bay.
Unified Command also confirmed:

• Support vessels Alert, Lauren Foss and Corbin Foss remain connected to the Kulluk.
• The Aiviq has disconnected from the Kulluk but is standing by.
• A Coast Guard overflight today did not observe any sheen in the vicinity.
• The Warrior, Ocean Wave, Perseverance, Nanuq and Alex Haley are standing by.

Final safe harbor?  It's still a long ways from Seattle.  If Dutch Harbor couldn't service the Kulluk, surely Kiliuda Bay can't. 

Aleutian Weather - Shell Should Have Known

With Shell's regular mention of the terrible weather when they talk about the Kulluk's problems, it seems appropriate to dip once more into Brian Garfield's Thousand Mile War where he discusses the weather conditions during WW II when the Japanese and Americans fought in the Aleutians. The Americans (and the Japanese) lost far more planes and pilots and ships to the weather and terrain than they lost to enemy fire.

"It was dreary but seldom calm, Corporal Dashiell Hammett wrote:  "There was a guage to measure the wind, but it only measured up to 110 miles and hour, and that was not always enough."

At Cold Bay, soldiers for the 260th Transportation Battalion built a hut for their day room (with 6X6 studs and joists stolen on a moonlight requisitioning sortie from Navy ships).  Wind rolled the building away.  The soldiers set it right-side-up and anchored it down with steel cables imbedded in concrete.  After that the hut stayed put, but it was the only permanent above-ground structure in the area.  Throughout the Aleutians in the next two years, the rule was dugout architecture. . .

The weather, "Made in Japan,"  lent truth to standard jokes:  "It's too thick to fly if you can't see your co-pilot."
"Stick your hand out.  If it touches a ship's mast, you're flying too low."
One pilot claimed he followed a duck because he knew it wouldn't fly into a cliff.  Unmak used "a 500 pound bomb for a windsock."  A PBY pilot claimed a seagull landed on his wing;  convinced that weather too thick for Hannibal the Hitch-Hiking Gull was too thick for a PBY, the pilot landed his seaplane on the water, and watched the gull jump off and go away - swimming.  (p. 125)

The stories were not always apocryphal.  It wasn't unusual for flights of B-17s to fly at 25-foot altitudes, so that pilots could follow the sea wake of the airblast from the leading plane's propellers.  On a socked in July day, three bombers landed at Cold Bay at six-minute intervals:  the first found the runway fogged in, the second found a clear 5000 foot ceiling and landed easily, and the third couldn't find the field in the fog.  "The weather," wrote Wheeler, "goes up and down like a whore's drawers."  (pp. 125-126)

Headwinds sometimes made it six hours to target and two hours back.  The noisy wind often blew west at one end of the runway and east at the other.  In a signle cloud front, a bomber could pick up a ton of ice.

At Umnak, PFC Edward O. Stephens invented a wind-driven washing machine.  Others boiled their laundry in discarded metal drums.  When they hung clothes out, they took three days or more to dry. . .

From Cold Bay and Umnak the air warriors saddled the weather and rode it out to Kiska and, usually, back home.  It was a hell unlike any other. Constant turbulence tossed airplanes like kites.  Ground crew mechanics learned to hate the unstable Aleutian air.  It twisted airframes, wrecked fuselages, stretched and loosened rivets, bent wings.  It shook up cockpit instruments and threw them out of whack.  It clogged carburetors.  It loosened window seals, rusted landing-gear oleos, ruined fuel lines, shook engine mounts loose, gummed guns, froze bomb-bay rack releases, and fouled hydraulic systems.  It killed.

The groundling grease monkeys seemed to keep the planes flying with nothing but skyhooks, rolling their own spare parts with hand-bellows forges and hammers, maintaining aircraft outdoors in williwawas with only flashlights  and truck headlamps for illumination.  The chief stockpile of repair parts was wrecked planes.  There were no inspectors, but the ground crews never failed to make a repairable plane airworthy within twenty-four hours.  It sometimes took four back-breaking hours in gale winds to refuel a B-17 by hand, pouring gas through a chamois filter.  Colonel Everett S. Davis wrote to Hap Arnold, "Don't figure on getting any serviceable planes back from us.  We have been hard on them." (p. 126)

The kind of weather the Kulluk encountered is nothing out of the ordinary.    It's nothing that Shell's contingency plans shouldn't have planned for.

And the book's description of the war is in sharp contrast to the heroic and nationalistic tone of this Academy Award winning 1943 documentary about the airbase in Adak that bombed the Japanese base in Kiska daily.  The end of the film shows an actual bombing raid from Adak to Kiska.




This original comes from the internet archives which has this description:

Director John Huston, while a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1943, creates an Academy Award winning documentary, which he narrates with assistance from his actor father Walter, treating of the Armed Forces' successful effort to prevent the fall of the Aleutian Islands to advancing Japanese troops who had captured several islets. Although no claim can be reasonably made that this location was of major strategic importance during the War, it presented enormous tactical and logistic difficulty for those assigned there, and Huston's color film demonstrates the determined ensemble work upon the outpost of Adak by a wide range of military specialists who combat loneliness and boredom along with notably severe weather conditions. The work was made over a six month period, and is climaxed by the preparations for, followed by an actual filming of, a bombing run over Japanese-occupied Kiska, wherein Huston nearly lost his life, and which is significant for its combat footage and for the atmosphere of suspense present in the viewer who wonders if all will return safely.

It's very much a war propaganda movie making this sound much better than they were, as this comment reflects:

Reviewer: jimelena - 3.00 out of 5 stars - December 2, 2005 Subject: Progadanda. My dad was in the Aleutians during WWII so I watched this. This is a propaganda film. It does not begin to relate the huge mistakes made, the tragedy upon tragedy, or the reasons why it is known as "the forgotton war". Maybe someday the truth will come out but even 60 years after it is still too sad, too horrible, to be remembered for what it was.

  The Shell announcements about the Kulluk have the same flavor as the movie. They acknowledge problems (the movie even showed a burial of a pilot) but everyone is a hero, cooperating 100%, to achieve the goal. The book tells a very different story. 

Shell Has a Plan, But It's Not Available

At Saturday afternoon’s news briefing, Richard Mauer of the Anchorage Daily News asked Shell’s Alaska Operations Manager whether a copy of the Shell’s plan for the recovery of the Kulluk was available.  Sean Churchfield has been using phrases like "the plans are dynamic" and “subject to operational constraints” to explain why a plan wouldn’t be made available. 

I suspect others are thinking what I was thinking:  Do they really have a plan?  Then I remembered that somewhere on my computer I had a copy of their Ice Management Plan.  So I pulled it up.

Shell’s definition of a plan is probably a lot different from the everyday notion of a plan.  Most of us think of a plan as a series of steps that need to be taken to achieve a goal.

But, if the Ice Management Plan (IMP) is what Shell means by a plan, then their concept is not quite what most of us think of as a plan.  Here's one of the more concrete parts of that plan:


Shell Ice Management Plan Roles and Responsibilities Charts

This is only part of the IMP, but it was the part that actually said something somewhat concrete.  A lot of it is just description of their vessels and their 'philosophy' and such things that use up space but don't really give you anything you can get hold of or could hold them to. And there's also the COCP - (Critical Operations and Curtailment Plan).  I did a couple of posts on these plans last September.  So if you want to know what Shell means by a plan here are two posts that go into some detail about them:

As Shell Is About to Drill, What Do We Know About Arctic Sea Ice? 

Started with some UAF videos on Sea Ice Research that took me to Shell's Plans and went into some detail on the COCP and the IMP.

Become An Arctic Oil Expert in Just Ten Minutes a Day

More in depth on the IMP.  




What are some of the reasons they wouldn’t want to show their plan?

There isn’t anything written down that most people would recognize as a plan.
There is a plan but it’s pretty sketchy.
They don’t want to show anything that might expose them to any legal liability.

Any of those and all of those are good possibilities.  I’m guessing the last one plays a significant role in their decision not to share their plans.  Overall, the three news briefings I’ve heard (one on tape, one in person, and one by phone)  might be better described as damage control public relations.  Go out there and deal with the media, because you have to, but say as little as you can get away with.  And what you say should focus on how well the recovery is going.

All this leads me to start pondering what actually does the public need to know?  Let me think about that for a while and get back to you.


This is a crazy new world.  We landed in Seattle.  We ate some lunch and then I reluctantly plugged in the computer and checked the email only to find out there was a Kulluk news conference going on that very minute and I could call in.

So there at the airport I listened in.  Having been in the room Thursday made it a little easier to figure out who was talking. 

We're in LA now visiting my mom. 

Kulluk Unified Command PIO Explains How Stakeholders Can Connect

At Thursday's news briefing, there was discussion about wanting to be sure all stakeholders had access to the Unified Command structure working to safely recover the Kulluk from where it is grounded off Kodiak Island.

So afterward I asked Public Information Officer Amy Midgett how one would do this.  Below is the video in which she answers this.  She also clarified that although people from different agencies may use their agency title - such as PIO - she is THE PIO for the Unified Command. 
Sorry about the camera angle, I was holding it toward Amy, but not looking at the screen as we chatted. That's the State On-Scene Coordinator Steven Russell from the Department of Environmental Conservation to the right at the beginning.



If you are a stakeholder - someone who has an interested in this area - I'd encourage you to try to use their process to connect.  Amy sounds sincere enough in the video.  And if you can't connect, let me know.  But fisherfolk, people working on environmental issues in the area, birders, boaters, anyone with a stake in the area, should at least try their system.

That said, it doesn't look easy.  Despite what Amy said on the video, I can't find any telephone numbers on the website itself.  There was a list of tweets and in one of the tweets, I found this:

• Toll-free community number is 1-866-771-7910

Ask for a liaison and see if it works.

On the "Questions or Comments" page, there is a way to make contact, but you have to give them your first and last name, your email address, and perhaps other information.  (When I signed up for email alerts the other day, 'affiliation' didn't have an asterisk indicating it was required, but when I submitted it, it spit it back because I hadn't filled out affiliation.)

This is a very limited sharing of information to the public.  The public has to give up more information if they want to ask a question.  In comparison, the Alaska Redistricting Website was much more accessible. 

They tell us there are over 500 people working on this operation.  That's a lot more than the Redistricting Board had.  If they wanted better communication, or if they thought it was important, they could have it. 

Almost 65,000 Alaskans Have Already Applied For Their Permanent Fund Dividend Checks

It's only January 4, 2012.  The fourth day that Alaskans can apply for their 2012 Permanent Fund Checks. 

That's a little less than 10% of Alaska's residents signed up in less than four days.  Part of the population doesn't procrastinate when it comes to free money from the state.  I wonder who many will sign up during the last four days? 

The oil money that keeps Alaska thriving is one of the reasons that most people - not immediately affected - are relatively complacent about the Kulluk resting in the surf off Kodiak.  Personally (through the PFD and those working for oil related businesses or state jobs funded by oil revenues) and collectively (through oil revenues paying covering most of our state revenues) all Alaskans have a financial stake in those oil dollars.   

Some older posts on different aspects of the Alaska Permanent Fund are here.

Kulluk News Briefing 2: Video of the Q&A

This is the second part of the briefing - about 20 minutes of questions from the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch, AP, New York Times, Fisherman's News, local Fox TV, Kodiak Daily Mirror, some I didn't quite catch, and even GQ.  The video of the first part - the presentations - is here.





Hearing people's names wasn't always easy, especially when it was from the phone connections.  This is a brief overview of the questions and responses.  Numbers are approximate times on the video.

0:15 Daniel Joel, AP:  What's your greatest concern?

Mehler:  Safety.  No mention whether there were concerns about oil leaking, or the rig breaking up, or if the rig will be ok for next summer.  Just worried about the safety of the workers.   Churchfield agreed.

1:06 Alan Bailey (Petroleum News?),   What work is involved, timeline, until you have a decision on how to salvage this vessel?
Churchfield:  Currently in the assessment stage.  Don't want to speculate on what they'll find.  We have no timeline.

2:00 Susanna Caldwell (I think) of the Alaska Dispatch asked about the sucking noise that was reported in the hull yesterday, but Sean Churchfield insisted it was a breathing noise, that he didn't want to go into any detail, but they were trying to determine if it was a breach or just natural venting of the tank.

2:40  Mark ??? on the phone:  Hard to hear over the phone.  Any time line about when it might be towed from the shoreline.
Churchfield summarized findings from yesterday.  Some wave damage.  Some hatches breached.  Generators damaged.  Salvage team on board assessing.  No timeline yet.

4:08 Margie Bauman, Fisherman's News:  First she asked if Churchfield and Mehler's remarks could be posted because they were so hard to hear.  Why won't Shell's investigation be made public?
Churchfield said they would collaborate completely with the Coast Guard.  Mehler said there's would of course be public.  Their statements will be put on line.

5:30 Channel 2:  When does the rig have to be out of there so it won't impact the 2013 drilling season?
Churchfield:  I'll defer that, my focus is on the response.  Call Shell's public affairs office.

6:10 Natalie Travis, KTVA Fox:  What were the main concerns of the local Communities?
Duane Dvorak:  Work for Kodiak Island Borough, connecting the Unified Command to the community and bringing their concerns back.  Local knowledge is our biggest contribtution.
Travis:  Has there been one piece of local knowledge that really helped?
Dvorak:  Direct contact with communities.  Native organizations.  Culturally significant geographical places that the responders need to be sensitive to.  How this could disrupt subsistence life style.

8:40 Steve Heimel, KSKA:  What about Refuge Rock?
Dvorak:  Discussed massacre of Old Harbor Natives when Russian colonization occurred.

9:59  Rich Mauer, Anchorage Daily News:  How far is the ship from Refuge Rock and could the fuel if it leaked reach the rock?
Steven Russell:  It's a ways off and should be protected.  The locations aren't too public.
[Later Ty, also from DEC, clarified to me that the location of sacred Native sites were kept from the public.  This was not related to the spill.]

10:40 Tim Bradner, Alaska Journal of Commerce - What is the hold thickness? I heard about 3 inches?
Travis:  Have to get to the naval architect to respond.  It is a well designed ship.

11:40 James Brooks Kodiak Daily Mirror?:How is this going to affect the CG resources that normally work with the fishing fleet?
Mehler:  Commitment and obligation to Alaskans.  We have other air assets, Shell has been chartering various air assets.  We have to maintain search and rescue resources.  Heavy lift, but not beyond what we can do.

13:00 ? McKenzie, GQ:  How many are preexisting Shell resources and how many are new and how many total?
Churchfield:  We had oil spill response assets in Seward, contracted other sources, we are providing what we had and contracting.

14:50 Henry Fountain, NY Times:  Could you clarify, did you have salvage teams both yesterday AND today?  And how does damaged electrical affect salvaging?
Churchfield:  Five salvors on board yesterday.  Six today, and bringing another six.  Damage to the electrical systems means the salvage teams have to find another way or bring in generators.   

15:35 Rich Mauer, ADN:  Related to that.  Does that mean pumps on board Kulluk now can't be used?  How do the hatches become unsealed?  Didn't the crew seal the hatches before they left?
Tommy Travis:  Issue about electrical, that's a salvage issue, talk to them.  I haven't interviewed the crew yet so I can't say.

16:59  I even asked a question.  You can tell I'm the closest to my mic.  Since they were being very circumspect about what they said, I was wondering how they decide what to say.  I thought that Duane Dvorak, the Kodiak Island Borough official who's just joined the Unified Command, had said something about deciding what to make public.  Actually, when I saw the video, it turned out to be the guy from DEC, Steven Russell.  The answer from Captain Mehler was they don't tell us stuff they can't validate.  No standard operating procedures that this will be released and this won't I assure you.  Is this accurate?  Is this the correct information?   I should have followed up about whether attorneys play any role in what they say.  Are there considerations about future lawsuits?

19:17 ? Argus Media:   Can you tell us the extent of the damage?  I can't tell if the vessel is seaworthy or not.
Churchfield:  Second day with salvage team. Still gathering data.  I do not have a completed assessment to pass back to you.

Video of Presentations At Kulluk News Briefing Today In Anchorage

Here's the video of today's news briefing in Anchorage. I have previous post with photos.

The presenters are:

Sean Churchfield, Shell Alaska Operations Manager  and Incident Commander
Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler, Federal On-Scene Coordinator
Steve Russel*, State On-Scene Coordinator (Dept. of Environmental Conservation)
Duane Dvorak, Liaison Consult, Kodiak Island Borough
Tommy Travis, Noble Drilling




 I'll put up the Q&A portion of the briefing as soon as I have it ready later tonight.  

[UPDATE:  Here's the Q&A video.]

Kulluk News Briefing - Anchorage January 3, 2013 - Video Soon

[UPDATE 8:05 - The first video is up here.][And the Q&A Video is here]

 I went to the Kulluk News briefing this afternoon at the Denaina Center in Anchorage.   Here's the announcement from my computer screen:
 








Here are the media gathered before it started in the Kahtnu meeting room.

There were also people listening via phone.  That was problematic because the mic was short and some of the speakers were tall.  They had to repeat two of the presentations because the people listening in couldn't hear.

This diagram of the Kulluk was up on an easel, but it was never used. 

This is Shell's Alaska Operations Manager Sean Churchfield.  He thanked the team and praised the work they are doing. 

Since I videoed the meeting, I didn't take notes and right now the video of the presentation is uploading so I can't listen to it.

I'll post it soon.  I didn't catch anything significant.

• More salvers [salvors] went on board today.  
• No one speculated on what could happen.  
• The rig is still upright and no sheen was spotted.  
• The electricity is out on the rig. 

A representative of Kodiak Island Borough, Duane Dvorak, is now on the Unified Command Team and spoke about the involvement of the people of Old Harbor Village.  They've agreed to operations to remove the rig.  There is also concern about sacred sites, including  Refuge Rock where many of their ancestors were slaughtered by Russians.

SITKALIDAK ISLAND, Alaska — In 208 years, a lot of history can be forgotten--the Russian cannon fire, the cries of women and children hurling themselves 100 feet into the sea, the defeat of a proud people.
All of these things happened at a small, raised buttress known as Refuge Rock near the village of Old Harbor. A Russian force, led by fur traders, conquered the Alutiiq of Kodiak Island, leaving hundreds dead.

If you look at the map closely, you'll see the Kulluk is off that same island - Sitkalidak Island.

The pin marks the spot of the Kulluk now. (Actually, no one said that.  I'm just guessing that's why it is there on the map.)

 Here's that same map, not quite as close showing the location of the Kulluk in relation to the City of Kodiak. 


The first video is still uploading.  I should get it up between 7pm and 8pm tonight.  Then I'll get the Q&A session done in a separate video. 

Airport Parking Attitude Surprise

 This is a slightly edited version of an email I sent to the Anchorage Airport Manager a couple of weeks ago after I got charged $15 for losing my parking ticket.  (People in Chicago might think that is cheap, but the issue wasn't the money.  It was the attitude.)


Dear Airport Manager:

Yesterday I picked my wife up at the airport. I got my parking ticket at about 8:20 pm.  On the way out, when I got to the parking payment kiosk, I couldn't find my ticket. I went back to where I had waited and looked to see if I could find it.  Maybe it had fallen out when  I'd pulled some notes out of my shirt pocket that had the ticket.

But it was not to be found. I understand the policy that says $15 - the max for 24 hours - for a lost ticket. Everyone who loses a ticket would claim they were there for just a short time. But in my case, I had been to Costco before picking up my wife. (I'd gone home and dropped things off and waited at home because the plane was delayed.) I had the receipt in my pocket.  I'd used my credit card, so it had my identity on it and the check out  time: 7:05pm. This clearly showed that I couldn't have been at the airport for more than two hours. (It took at least 15 minutes to go through the transaction at the airport exit and it was 9pm when someone finally came and opened the arm.)

 I understood that the woman in the ticket booth didn't have the authority to waive any part of the fee. But she kindly gave me a receipt after I requested one and she signed  my Costco receipt to show that she had seen it at that time. The next morning I called the Anchorage Airport Parking. I understand that verifying things like this is difficult and may lead to endless requests. But I also know that any organization can make exceptions to their rules.

The woman I first talked to said it couldn't be changed, there could be no refund without a ticket.  I understood she didn't have discretion to change it either. But her supervisor, who I talked to next, repeated this in a condescending way. "It's your responsibility to keep possession of your card," in a tone of voice you use with a naughty child who has repeatedly done something wrong. I can afford the $9 difference between the two hours I would have been charged if the two hours had been accepted as the most I could have been there. My real complaint was the attitude that I got. "We charge $15 if you lose your ticket and if you are irresponsible enough to lose your ticket, that's tough. Even if you can prove you couldn't have been there more than two hours, we don't care. Cause that's our rule and we don't have to be nice to you."

I assumed this was a company with a private contract with the Airport. This is a business that I would not return to if it didn't have a monopoly on a public service I have to use because I live in Anchorage. But I don't have any choice. Any good business that wants to keep customers, treats them with respect and doesn't ignore their polite and reasonable requests. At the very least he could have asked me to send in all the evidence I had. A responsible business with customers that have a choice on where to do business would do that or they would lose their customers.

 The issue here is not the money - I probably would have gotten free parking if I had had my ticket at the kiosk.  The issue is the attitude I got from the supervisor on the phone. All companies can waive the rules if they wish. It would be interesting to know how many lost card payments the airport parking gets in a day and if the company keeps all the revenue from them or shares it with the Airport.

I'd hope that you talk to them about customer service and about reasonable requests for waivers of the policy if someone has readily available evidence of the maximum time they could have been parked. The point of the policy is that anyone can say they were only there a short time. I accept that. And if I didn't happen to have that receipt, I wouldn't be writing this email. I just think this was unreasonable and their response was inappropriate for a company that has a monopoly on a public service.  I know you have much more serious issues to deal with, but I wanted you to know what's going on.

Sincerely,

 SA



OK, I got it out of my system. 

But today I got a call from Republic Parking saying that had $15 for me.  I'd forgotten about it and I almost hung up on them.   And then I remembered.  Whoa!  Are you kidding me? 

Since I'd paid cash - that was the night my credit card was canceled because they didn't have my wife's social security number (that's another story) and the first time it was rejected was at the ticket booth - they were refunding the money in cash which I had to pick up.  My wife was out running errands and called.  I told her about the $15 and she went to pick it up.  When she got home, she said they were incredibly polite. 

My thanks to the Airport Manager for following up on this. 

I do still wonder who gets the penalty money and if that encourages them to be so hard-nosed about lost tickets.  But it's better to keep your ticket safe.  I look at this as totally found money that is waiting to passed on to someone who needs it more than I. 

Shell's Kulluk Response: Look How Great We Are!

Shell has a huge oil rig adrift near Kodiak Island, Alaska being battered by high winds and waves. (NOTE - this is not unusual weather for Alaska in the winter.)  But Shell's response is like being at the funeral and talking only about how nice the flowers look.

Here's a press release from Shell yesterday (Jan. 1, 2013)

1.  "We deeply appreciate the professional and effective response of the responders from the U.S. Coast Guard, Shell, Noble, Edison Chouest and many other organizations who worked together seamlessly at sea and under extreme weather conditions to control the vessel, rescue the crew on board, and prevent injury and environmental impact.

The gist of paragraph 1: We were successful!

• "professional and effective response"
• "worked together seamlessly"
• "to control the vessel, rescue the crew on board, and prevent injury and environmental impact"

2.  "In the circumstances we faced over the last 4 days, we cannot underscore enough how significant it is to have weathered fierce winds and high seas with no more than two first aid cases."

The gist of paragraph 2:  We did great under terrible conditions

• In terrible conditions we only had two "first aid cases"

Note:  in the press conferece they said there were three people injured.  Also note that the weather in winter in Alaskan waters is more likely to be terrible than not.  This is NOT unusual weather.  Author Brian Garfield, writing in 1969 about World War II in the Aleutians:

"The conditions were war conditions - war with the enemy, war with the perpetual enemies of weather, water, and terrain." [Thousand Mile War p. 106]

Back to the press release:

3.  "The Kulluk successfully completed its role in supporting our 2012 Alaska exploration program several weeks ago and was en route to winter harbor, through waters off the southern coast of Alaska, when this incident occurred.   We have already begun a review - working with our marine experts, partners and suppliers – of how this sequence of events, including the failure of multiple engines on the MV Aiviq (towing vessel) led to this incident.  We intend to use lessons from that review to strengthen our maritime fleet operations, globally.    

The gist of paragraph 3:  Kulluk was a success and this is merely a learning experience so we can be more successful. 

• successfully completed its role
• headed to winter harbor
• incident occurred
• Review has begun
• with experts, partners, and suppliers
• sequence of events -including multiple engine failures on towing vessel - led to this incident
• Will use lessons from review to make our fleet stronger
•  

4.  "The incident did not involve our drilling operations, nor does it involve any possibility of crude oil release.  Through our role in the Unified Incident Command, we quickly mobilized experts to respond to this situation.  And, we can confidently say that the Shell emergency response assets and contingences that were deployed over the last four days represent the best available in the world."

The gist of paragraph 4:  This wasn't about drilling and we've got the world's best working on this.  We're confident!

• It wasn't our drilling operations
• No chance of crude oil release
• We quickly got the world's best experts

Could you tell from this that:

• Their drilling rig Kulluk broke loose from its towing vessels and had run aground on rocks south of Kodiak Island?
• That this was one more mishap in a series starting last year that delayed drilling for Shell?
• That there's  roughly 143,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 12,000 gallons of "other petroleum products on this now crewless oil rig being battered by winds and waves?
• 
  

Here's the Anchorage Daily News description.