Single Page
In Nome, preparations to flush a million gallons of fuel across sea iceNOME -- In this Northwestern Alaska town that runs up against Norton Sound, the usual white plain of sea ice that marks the ocean at this time of year has a new, jarring sight: two ships, bright red and massive, sitting less than a half-mile offshore. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy and the Russian fuel tanker Renda, after a daunting and occasionally uncertain journey spanning a week and a half, have arrived. Sunday afternoon, there was no hose yet running from the Renda to Nome, where a 1.3 million-gallon payload of fuel will eventually be dropped. As with many aspects of the mission, this has become a waiting game, as the Renda rests in one place, allowing the ice to set hard enough around to prohibit any movement during the delicate transfer of fuel across the thick shore ice. At a lookout point not far from the tank farm that is the fuel’s ultimate destination, residents come and go in their trucks and SUVs. Some have brought their children, others their binoculars. One Nome resident, Jane Murphy, said that the community was just excited about the whole thing, knowing the logistics that went into getting the fuel here. Another resident sitting in his truck to avoid the subzero temperatures said it was a once-in-a-lifetime event; a lookout had been full of cars the night before as the Healy maneuvered in the darkness, carving up the ice close to shore, in search of a spot the Renda could be frozen in place but still broken free once her cargo had been offloaded. Sunday, the only activity to be seen involved parties traveling out onto the ice in order to check its thickness or conduct other research around the ships -- trying to determine if it’s yet safe enough to begin assembling the hose that will transfer all that fuel. The fuel transfer process must begin during daylight hours, another commodity in short supply this far north, this time of year. There was an outside chance assembly would begin before nightfall, but most didn’t sound optimistic. Coast Guard Lt. William Albright was working on maintaining a “safety zone” intended for the Renda and where the hose would run. A 50-yard perimeter will exist around the hose -- once it’s assembled, that is. His job was to keep onlookers from going out to get a closer look at the ship on potential weak spots in the ice. “There are a few people that are curious,” Albright says, before pointing to a gap in the ice that he called a wintertime “superhighway” for subsistence hunters going after seals out on the sea ice. “The locals have been very helpful in identifying the routes over the ice,” Albright says. “They’re the experts.” The unusual sight of the ships on Nome’s horizon is just another step in a long odyssey: bad weather prevented the usual final delivery of fuel in November, and the process since then has consisted of hiring a tanker, getting Coast Guard assistance with icebreaking, federal waivers to expedite the process, and, of course, traveling hundreds of miles in subarctic midwinter through thick ice. Now, it’s another “hurry up and wait” moment as the ships wait to begin transferring fuel to Nome. During a press event Sunday, representatives from numerous government agencies -- along with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell -- heaped praise on one another for their respective roles in the mission. While it was a bit of a love-fest, the interagency cooperation has indeed been significant. “The current operation is over years of relationship building that Coast Guard and everyone has done to make these things possible when you have a crisis,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo said. “This is historic in a lot of ways … but it’s also only the halfway point.” Meanwhile, other groups were thinking ahead to the other half, including the upcoming fuel transfer. John Kotula, manager of marine vessels for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, said in addition to amending the spill contingency plan for Vitus Marine, the shipping company that hired the Renda to operate in the conditions in the Nome harbor, the DEC was taking numerous precautions to prevent or contain any potential mishaps that might occur during the fuel transfer.
Questions of the hour: What is the price of gasoline at Bonanza going to be once the offloading is done? Will Crowley keep their gas pump prices at $5.99, which for 4 months has been .55 cents higher than Bonanza's? (currently $5.44) I assume the large amount of on-road #2 Diesel on the Renda is to fulfill current delivery contracts already in place (ie, The Mine, City of Nome, etc). If thats the case, will their contracted price remain? Who eats the difference? "Consider it a training mission. It was either come to Nome, or their next sea adventure would have been a scientific excursion to the Antarctic. Taxpayer pays no matter what...what's the difference? I would imagine a lot was learned on this trip, chalk it up as that." Thank you for your generous consideration of what these Coast Guardsmen did for their lengthy "scientific excursion". As a military veteran, I am glad you think so highly of what someone else is able to accomplish. Just think what could be done with this taxpayer money. Use it to bring natural gas or a road to Nome instead. And many Thanks to the Healy and Renda crews. Thank you to the crews of the Renda & Healy! Alaskans used to do this more frequently - step in immediately to help their neighbors - and I hope to see that day return. Keep the politicians far away all they can do is foul the transfer up. "Once in a lifetime" I hope is seeing the first of much commerce in winter. What could happen if the attitude isn't much then a lot would happen. A valve frozen open when a leak occurs would allow the whole tank farm to drain. A million in and then a million out. The Alyeska pipeline with thick crude had a quarter inch hole leak 100,000 gallons in a spot not detectable and not enough to drop the pressure and shut down the line. Why don't we have it, the tanker owned by the USA. Because Alaskans don't have the political punch to get them either business wise or government wise. Write that MO. legislator that thinks this is pork and ask him why economically Alaska is being given back to the Russians. "valve frozen open" Your idea that a valve would freeze "open" is idiotic, as the fuel is itself a lubricant. "the DEC was taking numerous precautions to prevent or contain any potential mishaps that might occur during the fuel transfer" Geez, the drama... What is the most gallons a pipe could lose, IF, it has valves on both ends and a leak or rupture happens? 10? 100? "a once-in-a-lifetime event" What? Now that we know it can happen, what is to stop a delivery next year, next month, or next week? Also, why do the Russians have this ability and equipment, and we, the nation that put man on the moon, do not? Politicians have descended en masse for the event....let's hope nothing goes awry. I hope there's a reporter there who asks some tough questions about whether this is political theatre or practical reality. |
Comments