The Noble Discoverer lurches from one disaster to another. CBS News has revealed that the US Coast Guard has called for a criminal investigation to probe potential violations of federal law. Serious issues. On 24 February, Lucy Lawless and seven of her fellow Greenpeace protesters boarded the ship while it was docked in Taranaki. They occupied the ship, preventing it from leaving for the Artic for 3.5 days. This action brought the issue of drilling in the arctic to the world's attention thanks to Lucy's celebrity status. Read more on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Save The Arctic Support Page for more news, photos, video and other multimedia about the protest.

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(CBS News) CBS News has learned that the U.S. Coast Guard has called in their criminal investigators to probe potential violations of federal law involving the activities of a 572-foot oil drilling and exploration ship owned by the Noble corporation, and contracted by Royal Dutch Shell to search for oil in the arctic. Royal Dutch Shell owned the drilling rig, the Kulluk, that ran aground in rough Alaskan seas Monday.

The revelation that another Noble ship working for Shell may have been operating with serious safety and pollution control problems bolstered allegations from environmental activists that the oil industry is unable to conduct safe oil drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean.

The Coast Guard conducted a routine marine safety inspection when Noble's Discoverer arrived at a Seward, Alaska port in late November. The inspection team found serious issues with the ship's safety management system and pollution control systems. The inspectors also listed more than a dozen "discrepancies" which, sources tell CBS News, led them to call in the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) to determine if there were violations of federal law.

Sources told CBS News that when criminal investigators arrived, the Noble Discoverer's crew had been provided with lawyers and declined to be interviewed.

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See more on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Save The Arctic Support Page for more news, photos, video and other multimedia

See more of Lucy's role as an Eco-Warrior and Greenpeace Ambassador