Monday, 05 December 2011 15:43
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| View of Nome coast. Photo: Denise Michels. Courtesy Alaska Dispatch. |
Sitnasuak Native Corp. of Nome has signed a contract to have the 371-foot Renda, a Russian marine tanker that doubles as an icebreaker, deliver 1.5 million gallons of gasoline, diesel and heating fuel, said Jason Evans, Sitnasuak's chairman.
The Native corporation, representing Alaska Natives with family ties to the Northwest Alaska community of 3,600, arranged the delivery under a contract with Vitus Marine in Alaska, said Evans.
The cost of shipping the huge load in by marine tanker -- the fuel was brought from a supplier in Korea -- will be millions of dollars cheaper than flying it in from Anchorage or Fairbanks, a possibility the company faced because a Delta Western barge canceled a fall delivery of fuel. Delta Western announced the cancellation early last week and blamed it on sea ice that has formed around Nome and November's big storm that delayed marine travel.
The Native corporation and Vitus Marine are working with the U.S. Coast Guard to arrange for the Renda to bring in the fuel, according to Sitnasuak.
"While I am pleased to see much-needed fuel on its way to Nome, the fact they are using a Russian-flagged tanker just drives home the nation's need for a strengthened presence in the Arctic," said Alaska's U.S. Sen. Mark Begich in a statement Monday. "It underscores the reality that despite seasonal reductions in the Arctic ice pack, we still need more icebreaking capacity."