"ANCHORAGE -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC's foray into Arctic offshore drilling has suffered a serious setback after one of its two Alaska drilling rigs ran aground in shallow water off a small island."

"Officials at a unified command center run by the Coast Guard, Shell, state responders and others said the Kulluk grounded Monday night on rocks off the southeast side of Sitkalidak Island, an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska.

The Kulluk was being towed by a 360-foot anchor handler, the Aiviq, and a tugboat, the Alert. The vessels were moving north along Kodiak Island, trying to escape the worst of a North Pacific storm that included winds near 70 mph and swells to 35 feet. Sitkalidak is on the southeast side of Kodiak Island."

The Associated Press had the story January 1, 2013. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Shell drill rig grounds off Kodiak Island after towline failures" (Anchorage Daily News) [3]