Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell is a global energy company. Much of what Shell does is dangerous offshore work, including drilling and exploration using platforms and rigs on the continental shelf. Shell has experienced several maritime accidents that led to environmental disasters and worker injuries and deaths. 

About Shell

Royal Dutch Shell, known to most people as simply Shell, is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world and has a very long history.

Shell originated in two merged companies, each dating back over one hundred years. The company’s headquarters is in the Netherlands, and it is incorporated into the United Kingdom.

As of 2016, Shell was the seventh-largest company in the world in terms of revenue. It is also one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies.

The worth of Royal Dutch Shell is so great that it is equivalent to nearly 85 percent of the total gross domestic product of the country of the Netherlands.

History of Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell dates back to 1907 when the British Shell Transport and Trading Company and the Dutch company Royal Dutch Petroleum merged.

The two companies came together to join forces against the powerful Standard Oil. All these companies at the time fiercely competed to find and access the next great oil field, including offshore sites.

The company’s origins date back even further than 1907, considering the beginnings of the two merged companies.

Royal Dutch Petroleum began in 1890 with an oil field in Sumatra. Shell Transport and Trading was founded in 1897 but originated as a much earlier company that imported seashells, hence the name and one of the now most recognized corporate logos in the world.

Shell’s Operations

Since its early beginnings, Shell has mainly been in the business of finding and exploiting natural oil and gas reserves.

Many of these can be found offshore and underwater, so Shell is one of the world’s biggest maritime companies and employers. Operations are conducted worldwide, on and off the shores of at least 90 different countries.

Today, Shell’s operations are divided into four major groupings:

• Upstream Americas. Upstream Americas operates all oil and gas recovery aspects in North and South America. This includes exploration, drilling, and transport. It also includes the recovery of bitumen from fields of oil sands.
• Upstream International. This division explores and recovers gas and oil outside the Americas. It operates the infrastructure used to liquefy recovered gas and transport oil and gas from wells and platforms to other locations worldwide.
• Downstream. This is the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution arm of the company.
• Projects and Technology. This division is responsible for research and development, mainly focused on creating new technologies as solutions. It provides all the technology and related services to the other divisions.

Some of the many projects conducted by this huge company include recovering and liquefying natural gas in Nigeria, developing Canada’s oil sands, natural gas deepwater projects off the coast of Norway, and Stones, an ultra-deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico that will become the deepest oil or gas production facility in the world.

Shell’s Arctic Project

As if working on continental shelf platforms and in deep water and ultra-deepwater settings weren’t dangerous enough, Shell has also explored and worked in the frigid and dangerous waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Shell’s drilling project in the Arctic began in 2006 with its Kulluk oil rig. With experience in the North Sea, Shell hoped it could be successful in the Arctic, but the project was plagued with problems.

It took six years before the project could begin drilling because of permits, legal restrictions, protests, and the technical challenges of drilling in a harsh environment.

Finally, the project was hit by a major accident when the Kulluk, which was being towed for service in Washington, ran aground in Alaska during a storm.

The project was set back yet again, and Shell had already invested $5 billion. A federal investigation ending in 2015 ultimately blamed Shell for the Kulluk accident.

Other Royal Dutch Shell Accidents

Shell’s huge oil rig grounding was a disaster, but the crew guiding it was safe after the U.S. Coast Guard rescued them. This was not Shell’s only incident over the years, and other accidents have been far more tragic.

North Sea Platform Fatalities

On September 11, 2003, two Shell workers died from a gas leak on a North Sea oil platform called the Brent Bravo.

The gas leak was sudden rather than gradual, and while several workers were safely evacuated, two men died on the scene. After an investigation, Shell was found negligent and responsible for the accident and deaths, which could have been prevented.

The company was found guilty of failing to make necessary repairs to the platform. A hole in the platform’s leg could have been repaired, which would have prevented the gas leak.

Gulf of Mexico Platform Fatalities

Two people died on a deepwater Royal Dutch Shell platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2019. The workers were testing lifeboat launch and retrieval protocols. A third worker was injured in the incident.

The accident happened when the lifeboat disconnected from the lifting apparatus. The two workers who died were in the lifeboat and fell 80 feet.

Oil Spills and Gas Leaks

Shell has also been guilty of more than one oil spill. These incidents cause substantial environmental damage, harm people and animals, and wreak havoc on local economies.

Most recently, Shell was responsible for an oil leak of more than 88,000 gallons off the coast of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The leak occurred at Glider Field, an underwater system piping oil between four different wells out to the Brutus platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A problem with the subsea infrastructure is thought to have caused the leak.

Injured Maritime and Offshore Workers

In such a dangerous industry, many types of accidents may injure or kill maritime workers. Shell has been responsible for several accidents, of which the above are just a few examples.

With ships going to and from platforms, rigs and platforms working in dangerous offshore locations, and workers manning all of this equipment in rough waters and harsh weather, it is no wonder that people get hurt.

Workers may be injured or killed by gas leaks, oil spills, fires, explosions, falls and drownings, equipment malfunctions, or other workers who make bad decisions.

Like others in the maritime industry, Shell’s workers have recourse to seek monetary damages after an accident and injury. Loved ones can seek compensation after the death of an employee.

There are laws to ensure that employers like Shell must pay their workers when something goes wrong. If you have been hurt on a maritime job, contact a maritime lawyer before you agree to any deals.