NOME, Alaska ( AP) — Crews are laying the “ icework” for the final leg of a Russian tanker’s mission to deliver fuel to the Alaskan town of Nome, building a path over a half- mile of Bering Sea ice to lay a hose for the fuel transfer.
The tanker Renda was moored off Nome’s harbor after a Coast Guard icebreaker cleared a path for it through hundreds of miles of ice.
Jason Evans, board chairman of the Sitnasuak Native Corp., said the bulk of the mission’s biggest challenges were behind the crew, but a lot of work remained.
“In theory, it was possible and in reality, it now is done,” Evans said of the journey.
The tanker stopped slightly less than a half-mile from the harbor Saturday night, and ice disturbed by its journey had to freeze again so workers could create some sort of roadway to lay a hose that will transfer 1.3 million gallons of fuel from the tanker to the harbor.
On Sunday, workers spent the morning walking around the vessel and checking the ice to make sure it was safe to lay the hose, which will take about four hours, Evans said.
The Coast Guard said that once there’s a suitable path for the hose, its segments will have to be bolted together and inspected.
State officials said the transfer must start during daylight, but can continue in darkness. It could be finished within 36 hours if everything goes smoothly, but it could take as long as five days.
A storm prevented Nome’s 3,500 residents from getting a fuel delivery by barge in November. Without the tanker delivery, supplies of diesel fuel, gasoline and home heating fuel were expected to run out in March and April, well before a barge delivery again in late May or June.
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