Shell's ice management vessel damaged in Alaska
July 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) 's icebreaker vessel Fennica returned to the Dutch Harbor in Alaska with a small breech in the hull, raising concerns about the company's plan to resume drilling in the Arctic later this month.
Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) said in June it plans to restart drilling for oil in the Arctic off Alaska as early as the third week of July after a conditional approval by the United States.
"Any impact to our season will ultimately depend on the extent of the repair," spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said in an e-mail to Reuters.
Fennica, owned by Arctia Offshore, is one of the primary ice management vessels in the Port of Helsinki during European winter.
Shell was given a conditional approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior in May to return to the Arctic for the first time since its mishap-plagued 2012 drilling season. (Reporting by Sneha Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)