According to an article published today July 7th, 2015 on fuelfix.com :

WASHINGTON — Shell’s drive to resume Arctic drilling this summer has hit another speed bump, with the discovery of a hole in the hull of an ice management vessel meant to safeguard the company’s operations in the Chukchi Sea.

The MSV Fennica was on its way from Dutch Harbor, Alaska to the Chukchi Sea on Friday when a ballast tank leak was discovered by crew members and a certified Alaska marine harbor pilot on board the vessel. It was traced back to a gash about 39 inches long and 2 inches wide.

The 22-year-old icebreaker has since returned to the port in Dutch Harbor and is being examined by marine experts, but it is uncertain how quickly the breach in its hull can be repaired and whether this will delay Shell’s hopes to begin drilling an oil well in the Chukchi Sea later this month.

The Fennica is just one of the 29 vessels in Shell’s Arctic fleet, which includes another icebreaker, the MSV Nordica, and at least two other anchor handlers tasked with helping to keep ice away from the company’s drilling site. But Shell’s contracted Fennica is unique in that it is carrying a critical piece of the company’s Arctic containment system: a capping stack designed to fit on top of a damaged well in case of a blowout or other emergency.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the company does not believe the incident will delay the company’s planned Chukchi Sea operations. But, he noted, “any impact to our season will ultimately depend on the extent of the damage.”

Separately, the company is waiting on at least one drilling permit before it can begin boring a new well into its Burger prospect about 70 miles off the coast. Regulators at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement are still scrutinizing Shell’s applications to drill two wells, about 8.9 miles apart.

Shell is already being forced to scale back its plans to drill two of its Burger wells at the same time, following a ruling by the Interior Department that wildlife protection regulations do not allow simultaneous drilling operations within 15 miles.

Update: The MSV Fennica is en-route to Portland, Oregon, for repairs at Vigor Industrial shipyard. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Fennica is expected to arrive around Tuesday, July 21st to Thursday, July 23rd.