Shell Flunks Coast Guard Inspection, Pushes on with Arctic Drilling

"A drill ship at the heart of Shell's hunt for Arctic oil flunked a Coast Guard inspection last month when a piece of anti-pollution gear that already cost its owner millions in fines failed again.

The Coast Guard held the Noble Discoverer in Honolulu for a day until engineers could repair the device that separates oil from the water in the ship's bilges, said Lt. Scott Carr, a spokesman for the service. The April 23 inspection occurred less than five months after vessel owner Noble Drilling pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges and paid $12.2 million in fines, partly for dumping oily water overboard when the same machine didn't work.

"They attempted to fix it. They couldn't get it fixed," Carr told VICE News. "They couldn't get it operating, and they were given a detention hold. Then they got the part, got it fixed, and got it out the door.""

Matt Smith reports for Vice News May 6, 2015.