Crews ready fuel delivery to iced-in village

Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

Crews of a Russian tanker readied a segmented hose Saturday to transfer from ashore critical fuel to an iced-in Alaskan town.

Sitnasuak Native Corp. board chairman Jason Evans said the 370-foot tanker Renda was aiming Saturday to moor at about 500 yards from the village of Nome, whose harbor had too much ice for the vessel to reach.

Instead, the crew will move 1.3 million gallons of fuel through a hose set up over sea ice.

Personnel will walk the entire length of the hose every 30 minutes to check it for leaks. Each segment will have its own spill-containment area, and extra-absorbent boom will be on hand in case of a spill.

Evans said he hopes the crew will begin unloading the fuel by today.

“It’s kind of like a football game, we’re on the 5-yard line, and we just want to work into the goal line,” Evans, whose hometown is Nome, said.

The Renda finally reached Nome’s vicinity after a slow crawl through hundreds of miles of sea ice. It was aided by the Seattle-based U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

A fall storm prevented Nome from getting a fuel delivery by barge in November. Without the tanker delivery, supplies of diesel fuel, gasoline and home-heating fuel Nome are expected to run out in March and April, well before a barge delivery again in late May or June.