Engineer says fuel additive to blame for Alaska vessel grounding

A ship engineer has found that "slime" created by a fuel additive on a towing vessel's fuel filters probably caused the failure of the ship's engine before the grounding of the Kulluk drilling rig in Alaska in late December, Ship & Bunker reports.

The engineer, Carl Broekhuis of the towing vessel Aiviq, spoke at a U.S. Coast Guard hearing looking into the grounding of the Kulluk, part of Royal Dutch Shell (Shell)'s drilling operation in Alaska.

"I'm not a scientist, but I'm telling you I believe it was something introduced to the fuel (that caused the engine failures)," he said. "I've eliminated everything else."

Broekhuis said samples of the diesel fuel showed a "clear, yellowish gel," which led to the failure of fuel injectors, though it is still unclear what the additive was.

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