A vessel that is part of Shell Oil’s $5-billion drilling plans to tap the colossal oil and gas reserves in the Arctic sailed into the Port of Vancouver earlier this month, the Vancouver Observer has learned. The arrival comes amid questions about the ship’s oil-spill-clean up tactics, as well as scientific predictions that 2014 may have been the hottest global temperature year on record.

The Arctic Challenger went into Seaspan's dry dock in Vancouver two weeks ago for systems work. The vessel represents the multinational energy corporation's hopes for demonstrating its technical know-how for cleaning up underwater Arctic oil spills.

The White House recently opened the Arctic waters for offshore drilling – but under tighter scrutiny in the wake of the disastrous BP spill in 2010 that gushed uncontrollably in the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. It was the worst marine oil spill in history.

Arctic Challenger in Bellingham Washington. Photo courtesy of Lonewolf Interactive, and provided by Shell.

Could the same disaster happen in the remote and ecologically fragile Arctic?

A 2012 executive presentation by Shell Oil’s President Marvin Odum suggests the Arctic Challenger is a key part of the company’s “cap and contain” plans to mitigate against major spills.

Shell says the ship has been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, but a key design feature is raising eyebrows.

Ship flares off spilled oil and gas

In what the company says is an "unlikely" event of an underwater oil and gas blow out from its drilling operations, the ship would flare off the recovered hydrocarbons into the air.

"I just see that as a horribly messy process,” said Todd Guiton, who lives in nearby Bellingham Washington.

The medical professional, with some engineering training, has watched the ship’s construction in Bellingham for the past two years from his living room window. He found out about this flaring tactic by talking to the ship’s crew.

“In my conversation with the captain, their plan is just to burn everything – the oil and the natural gas on the flare boom on the front of the barge,” said Todd Guiton last week.

“This boom has several jets that would be expressing this oil and natural gas – there’s going to be flames there so it burns off," he added.

Shell Oil confirmed its so-called "Arctic Containment System" works by lowering a submersible with a steel dome to be placed over a compromised wellhead. The water, oil and gas is then vacuumed to the surface.

“Once on board, additional separation is done before storing and/or flaring of the hydrocarbons takes place,” wrote Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

Arctic Challenger's submersible Arctic Containment System for vacuuming up oil and gas spills on the sea floor. Illustration by Superior Energy.

American enviro-watchdog group -- NRDC -- added that flaring is a documented method for dealing with oil spills, but not proven in Arctic waters, an Alaskan spokesperson said Tuesday.