WASHINGTON - January 7 - In response to news that Shell's grounded drill rig Kulluk is being towed away from where it was grounded on Dec. 31, Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Ben Ayliffe made the following statement:

"The battered rig may finally be free, but after this latest fiasco Shell's reputation is in tatters. The time has come for the US government to act. It is now patently clear that it is impossible to drill for oil safely in the Arctic. President Obama must step in and rewrite his policy on the frozen north to stop one of these near misses becoming a major environmental disaster in one of the planet’s most delicate ecosystems.

"The Kulluk incident has raised many glaring safety issues and serious questions must be asked of Shell's decision-making. Investors will be watching this latest mishap and asking how much longer Shell can persevere with a multi-billion dollar Arctic drilling programme that has been characterised by one glaring operational blunder after another."