Fuel transfer to Nome hitch-free so far

January 20th 3:13 am | Carey Restino    

NOME - While dignitaries, state leaders and an international audience applauded from afar, fuel continued to flow to Nome from the Russian tanker vessel Renda on Wednesday without incident.

Hoses running some 700 yards along a makeshift road built through the massive ice rubble between the Renda and the shore were offloading the 1.3 million gallons of fuel without a glitch. The offloading operation, which started at dusk Monday, will take another day or two to complete. A two-man relay team is walking the fuel line every 30 minutes until the transfer concludes, looking for any breaks in the line.

For many, it looks like the finish line is in sight. For the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as those who commissioned the Russian ship to bring the fuel, this journey is far from done.

"This is historic in a lot of ways, but this is also only the half-way point," said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Coast Guard District 17 commander. "We have a long way to go, and we're keeping a keen eye on safety."

Cooperation of agencies extraordinary

Even so, plenty of firsts have already been accomplished. It's the first time an icebreaker has delivered fuel in Alaska. It's the first time a Russian ship has been involved in such a venture. And it might well break some records for the most government agencies working in unison toward a single purpose, leaving a trail of red tape fluttering in their wake.

The state of Alaska has faced emergency after emergency in recent months, from hurricane-force storms in Northwest Alaska to windstorms in Southcentral to record snowfalls in Southeast and now the mission to guide the Renda safely to Nome, said John Madden of State Emergency Management Sunday during a press conference in Nome. People asked if the state was near its breaking point, he said.

"We absolutely are not," he said, adding that the reason the state is able to be so resilient is the cooperation between all agencies and organizations involved. This, he said, is an example of government working efficiently together for the greater good of the people of Alaska.

While the larger players, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Sitnasuak Native Corp., the city of Nome, state and federal lawmakers and the Department of Environmental Conservation are all players, others, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which assisted with ice predictions and water movement information and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, played key roles, too.

Gregory Walker is one of those behind-the-scenes cooperators that helped make this expedition the coordination success it has been so far. He's the pilot of an unmanned aircraft, also known as a drone, which flew out over the ice taking photos and video and allowing the ship captains to analyze the ice fields around the ships.

His enthusiasm spilled over while he showed journalists Sunday the navigational capacity of the drone, which has participated in mapping and scientific missions throughout the state.

On this mission, allowing all the agencies involved to see the same data allowed a much smoother decision-making process, Walker said.

"It shows what everyone else sees," he said.

Nome pump price yet unknown

Jason Evans, chairman of the Sitnasuak Native Corp., said the final cost of fuel prices in Nome is yet unknown, but said the costs of bringing the fuel in by icebreaker were low enough to keep prices competitive with the Nome market. Right now, fuel prices are hovering around $6 a gallon. Had they been flown in, an extra $3 to $4 would have been added to that price, Evans said, if not more.

Evans said Sitnasuak Native Corp. was still in discussions with the barge company Delta Western regarding compensation for the undelivered shipment, a first in its 10-year relationship with the Nome Native corporation.

"I was never told clearly why there were delays," Evans said.

 

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