This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Incident Management Team commander, observing the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground during an overflight off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said Wednesday, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Sara Francis)
This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Incident Management Team commander, observing the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground during an overflight off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said Wednesday, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Sara Francis)
Chart shows the largest oil reserves
This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said Wednesday, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. A Coast Guard C-130 plane and a helicopter were used to fly over the grounded vessel on Tuesday morning. The severe weather did not permit putting the marine experts on board the drilling rig, which is near shore and being pounded by stormy seas. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? Environmentalists say the grounding of a Royal Dutch Shell PLC drill ship on a remote Gulf of Alaska island shows that oil companies are not ready to drill in Arctic Ocean waters, which are even more remote.
The drill ship Kulluk (CULL'-uck) ran aground in a fierce North Pacific storm Monday night off an uninhabited island near Kodiak.
Marilyn Heiman (HIGH'-man) of the Pew Environment Group says near hurricane-force wind and waves are typical of the North Pacific and the Arctic. She says the conditions and the lack of infrastructure in the north would make marine mammals vulnerable to a petroleum spill.
Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith says the company will learn from the grounding and remains confident that it can operate safely in Arctic conditions.
On Wednesday, a team of six salvage experts conducted a three-hour structural assessment of the Kulluk for use in the final salvage plan.
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