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BBE
and AES help put the Kulluk back in service
When
it comes to northern logistics, BBE and AES is the team to use –
just ask Houston based Frontier Drilling. Taking a page from the work
BBE did for Devon Canada, Frontier is using BBE and AES to assist them
with their logistics as the company refurbishes an arctic class offshore
drilling vessel owned by Shell Exploration and Production Company.
The drilling vessel, named Kulluk after the Inuvialuit word for thunder,
is moored in McKinley Bay, 80 kilometres east of Tuktoyaktuk and just
over 2000 kilometres north of Edmonton, Alberta. Though it has been idle
for 13 years, Frontier Drilling, through its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary
Kulluk Arctic Services (KAS), is bringing the vessel back to Canadian
and U.S. drilling and marine certification for drilling in Arctic waters.
“Many of our Canadian employees, who are familiar with the Western
Arctic, were also familiar with BBE and AES,” says KAS’ Jim
Guthrie. “They have a reputation for providing good high quality
service, and we are pleased to be able to utilize the systems, processes,
infrastructure and support staff of these northern based businesses while
we complete our remobilization project. It helps to have people involved
who know the North and the challenges faced when operating so far from
the end of the supply chain.”
BBE is expediting freight and materials from all over North America to
the Kulluk to assist with the refurbishing. “They are moving a lot
of freight, including dangerous goods and materials that require special
handling,” says Guthrie. “These freight shipments take a lot
of care and attention, as a lot of the material is very urgent. BBE and
AES stay well aware of our daily, monthly and seasonal priorities. They
track our goods from the point of departure from vendors throughout North
America until they are unloaded off of a helicopter or a ship onto the
decks of the Kulluk, making sure they arrive on time.”
The
refurbishing project spans the rest of 2006 and part of 2007. When complete,
the vessel will be towed to the US Beaufort Sea, and commence drilling
offshore Alaska, operating for Shell.
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