A Royal Dutch Shell PLC ship carrying required blowout response equipment for Arctic offshore drilling will be sent to a West Coast shipyard for repairs.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith says the 380-foot icebreaker Fennica will transit from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to Portland, Ore., for repairs.
Smith says the company’s 2015 drilling schedule should not be interrupted.
The hull of the Fennica was gashed July 3 by an uncharted object as it departed for the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast.
The Fennica’s primary mission for Shell is carrying a capping stack, which could be lowered onto a wellhead to stop a blowout.
Smith says Shell drill rigs can begin top-hole work and the Fennica will not be needed until August.
