Greenpeace slammed oil giant Shell for insufficient testing of a piece of equipment that could avert an oil spill in the Artic. Shell has begun work on the billion-dollar Alaskan drilling program, branded an act of “stock-car racing recklessness.”

"Such recklessness wouldn't look out of place in a stock-car race. The only option now is for the US government to call a halt to Shell's plans to open up the frozen north because the company is so clearly unable to operate safely in the planet's most extreme environment,” said Ben Ayliffe, senior Arctic campaigner at Greenpeace, to The Guardian.

He added that over the past two months no evidence has been seen that supports the assertion that safe drilling can be carried out in the Arctic.