(January 1, 2013)--The U.S. Coast Guard intended to fly out early Tuesday to a small uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska to plan a salvage operation for a grounded drilling rig that broke loose from a tow in a North Pacific storm.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Kulluk, which is carrying 150,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of other fluids, is one of two ships the company has in the area for offshore drilling.