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U.S. Coast Guard via AP
The Coast Guard icebreaker Healy approaches the Russian-flagged tanker vessel Renda Tuesday evening. Shifting ice has slowed the progress of the paired vessels. The ice tends to close in, cutting off the path between the two ships. When that happens, the icebreaker doubles back and makes a relief cut to take pressure off the tanker and open a pathway.
The fuel tanker and U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker trying to make it to Nome, Alaska, are staying put in compact ice while aerial teams look for the safest route, offiicals told msnbc.com on Wednesday.
"We knew they were going to go through this and it was going to be tough," said Kathleen Cole, a National Weather Service ice forecaster in Anchorage. "They're trying to keep things safe out there."
"They will be able to move forward," Cole said, noting that once a route is found the ice will get thicker but not as dense, which is what has threatened the safety of the Russian-flagged tanker Renda. "This is about the most compact that they're going to reach. There is some thicker ice, but not as compact."
The convoy made progress on Monday. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
The convoy is still 97 miles south of Nome, after making no progress on Tuesday due to ice, currents and "significant winds that shifted the ice," Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow told msnbc.com.
STORY: Alaska convoy moves just 50 feet forward
Overnight, the ships' crews did not try to venture foward but instead used the time to rest and do maintenance, he added.
The Coast Guard cutter Healy and its crew were supposed to have been back at their homeport of Seattle before Christmas, but were instead redirected to help the Renda reach Nome, which could face heating and gasoline shortages by spring because its regular winter shipment was blocked by a November storm. Ships and planes are the only way in or out of the town of 3,500. Flying fuel in is doable but very expensive.
If the ships make it to Nome, it will be the first time a fuel tanker reaches a western Alaska town blocked off by winter sea ice. The Renda is carrying 1.3 million gallons of fuel.
"This is a great learning experience for the Coast Guard," Wadlow said.
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Great Learning experience, Too costly to fly in. What is the cost of the Coast Guard? the Tanker? and who is going to pay for this - US the tax payers of course. If they want to live there then they can pay the cost. I used to live in San Diego and work at Mercy Hospital and you know what they said when I asked for more money " You have the opportunity to live in such a great place what else do you need. So I moved to Texas. so can they or pay up and shut up
No one is thinking of the poor Coast Guard family's no holidays for them
For all the damn money we waste on other countries...why don't we put our ammo to good use and bomb the F out of the ice.
=)
Heck Alaska could afford to pay for it... they have all that oil revenue where they pay their residents a percentage of the revenues... something like $1,000 per resident or whatever.... They want to be so independent.... let them pay the fed's back.... ain't going to happen!!!! Like all GOP groups.... cut... except when it's "my' money....
@gizmo1251 - You make my head hurt. What a sorry-assed individual you must be.
the shipping company is the one paying the charges and the alaskans that the fuel and supplies are being deliverd to are also going to be paying for it in higher prices for all the stuff thats being delivered. you thing the gov is footing the entire bill and the alaskans are only going to pay $3 something a gallon for the fuel? try closer to $5 a gallon and if they had to ship it all in by air it would be $8-$9 a gallon. contrary to what you see on tv not everybody in alaska is a gold miner or wealthy celf centered politician, a lot of people struggle to get by in good times. so no i dont mind the coast gaurd helping get this shipment of much needed supplies to people who need them so they dont freeze to death over the winter.
if this ship is stuck, why doesnt the Air Force swing by and drop some bombs ahead of the ships and help break up the ice? makes more sense than dropping them on civilians....
I took a look at the ice from 2 days ago. The ice in that area is more dense and more extensive than the same day in 1979. I.E. They have a really big problem and may need to retreat.
I am trying to figure out what living in San Diego and working a hospital has to do with this story. You must be a real idiot.. wait.. a complete and total idiot.
"No one is thinking of the poor Coast Guard family's no holidays for them" Dude, the cost guard guys get paid to help people. Holidays don't matter in a time of need. Perhaps if you were in need, how would it be if they said to you, wait.. its our week off, we will get to you next week... right as you were about to die from exposure to the elements. Did you read the part about you being an idiot ?
Let's hope they are all safe on the ships!
Where are the hovercraft?? Hovercraft move over water, over ice, over land. Why did they bother trying to use a ship? They can still send hovercraft to meet the ship on the ice and off-load the fuel in barrels onto hovercraft and quickly move to the destination.
The world's largest hovercraft can haul only 160 tons. That's a tiny fraction of the 4,500 tons of fuel being carried by the Russian tanker. Pressure ridges higher than 6 feet will also stop a hovercraft. So even if they attempted to make the delivery via many trips, they'd first have to build an ice road for the hovercraft.
One of the dumbest posts ever
They actually thought San Diego is a great place to live? You need an ice breaker to get through the @!$%#ing traffic there 20 hours out of the day.
Just wait for the week Comic Con is there...that is a nightmare.
The taxpayers are not on the hook for the expense. The expense is built into the price of the fuel and the coast guard is paid by the shipper.
Oh, one more thing... this tanker ain't making it to Nome.
They should've hired a Russian ice breaker to do this. The healy is a research breaker that can do maybe 4 knots through 8 foot ice. The russian ones are nuclear powered and monstrously powerful, 70,000hp all day every day for years on end. They can do 15knots through 10foot core ice and would shred this stuff like confetti. The Russians need them since they have so many places for oil/gas that are ice locked much of the year, the US would never need one. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have hired one though.
Really should've hired this puppy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6OHHGrVM3g&feature=youtu.be
Maybe depending on how hard the ice is. Usually it goes about 4kts in 3-4 ft of ice.
However, the main problem is the wind and sea waves up the in the Arctic move the ice and close the path between the two vessels. So having more power and being able to go faster doesn't necessarily mean the tanker will be able to keep up.
Escorting is always difficult because you have to worry about keeping a good pace and distance between the two ships. If Healy gets stuck in some thick ice, she maybe has a few minutes to warn the tanker to back off and wait depending on how far back the tanker is. So, you trade speed for safety. Also, if Healy can't break the ice she's stuck on she'll have to back down which will further decrease the distance between the ships.
So say the nuclear ice breaker is able to go faster; it can't get too far ahead of the tanker. The tanker can't go but so fast in the ice because it's hull may not be able to handle the pressure and the bumping. If the tanker gets stuck, it's game over. Any ice breaker can only do so much to break free another ship safely so you also have to depend on the wind and waves to help.
This cooperation was unprecedented 15 years ago. It reminds me of a story about Nome, AK a long time ago involving multiple dog teams to save a town in hardship. These folks out on that ice right now are heroes. Leave your sour comments at the door about who pays for what oil. It is not important.
Just spread rock salt by plane over the sea.
ummm, the ocean is salt water, if its frozen, salt won't help. i agree with the comments of putting some weaponry to good use. whether by air dropped by plane, under the ice by submarine, or just sending a team out on the ice to set charges, i think that would be the way to go.
Ice breaking duty must be the most boring in the world. Doing 2 knots (and now sitting still), for days and weeks on end. I hope the crews of both vessels have every movie known to mankind showing in their rec room or at least a stack of good books.
Lonely but can be awesome.
Cannot be true! The artic ice has disappeared and won't be returning. Just read that here on msnbc a few weeks ago.
Nobody ever said that. There will always be ice in the winter.
Hmmm.... thinking of the show "Ice Road Truckers" now. Get close and make an ice road and send out the tankers. If the ice is that thick it should hold them. Right now any idea might be a good idea.
You'd need a fleet of tanker trucks to pull that off and I'd be surprised if a town of 3,500 had more than 1.
Yea, your probably right! The ice would be melted before the last trip of the tanker. lol
The current rate of ice reduction in the arctic has nothing to do with this ship's problems. Less ice does not mean NO ice.
But, to be specific, read the article: They normally get their fuel delivered in November, before any ice forms. That delivery did not happen. So, they are trying it now. There is more ice now, in January 2012, than there would have been back in November. Perhaps there is less ice now than in a typical January. Perhaps, in a 'normal' January, the ice would have been so thick they would not have attempted to send the tanker, icebreaker or no icebreaker.
Good for you Pro, I was wondering when someone would remind us about global warming.. I thought of that when I read the first report days ago, and now there's more ice than then.. It must be a freak storm, and a couple weeks from it'll be ice free...... hahaha........ Jerry (in Tucson)
Iced in? How can this be? I thought global "warming" had made Arctic waters "ice free?"
No? You don't mean to say the global "warming" "scientists" have been (*gasp!*) lying to us; do you?
Really? come on, you aren't that retarded are you? Clearly you understand the difference between glacial ice and winter ice? You don't think 1 winter in Alaska is going to create the great glaciers that exist up there do you? Lol.
I bid you good day sir.
??
What the hell is this. Get the planes in the air and get them fuel. People are stupid!
Just hope those pilots have no problem landing in the middle of nowhere in 20 feet of snow. I suppose the residents won't mind hauling 5 gallon cans in 75-95 mph wind gusts, either.
This crisis makes one recall 'Balto The Dog' who saved Nome in 1925!
The photo caption says the picture was taken Tuesday evening. The sun went down at 4:33 p.m. that day, so it's doubtful that it was evening. I'd say afternoon. Knowing MSNBC, it might have even been Tuesday morning.
But is evening defined by the clock or by the sun? It certainly looks like "evening light."
would it be cheaper (and probably quicker at this point) to fly in a gigantic pump and just pump it? its 97 miles i understand, but i'm sure the fuel company already has pumps and lines, trying to think outside the box here. an accident with a bomb would be catastrophic with 1.3 million gallons of fuel. although an accidental fuel spill would be just as bad. something needs to happen though and soon! those people need their heat!
Problem with pumps is they need gigantic power to run them. The company I work for makes pumps that are used in nuclear power plants and mining applications. A 50,000 GPM pump is one of the smaller ones that we make. But to power it, you need a 1000 HP motor and lots of electricity, neither of which is available in the middle of the ocean. Not to mention the weight, no way it would ever be flown on location.
Some of these comments make my brain hurt. Please tell me you guys aren't reproducing. Blow up the ice? Seriously? Rock salt? on the frozen SALT water? Even if that worked, how many TONS of rock salt would you need? Besides all the extra chemicals they use. And Alaskans can afford this? Cause Nome is totally a hot spot of trade and commerce, right?
Aye carumba
Ok, I need some help digesting the following logic
1. In 1998, the USGS estimated that between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil and natural gas liquids are in the coastal plain area of ANWR.
2. But, Environmentalists and most congressional Democrats have resisted drilling in the area because of the threat of foul spills, which would play havoc on wildlife.
3. Nome Alaska already gets deliveries from Delta Western Inc. to have three barges deliver fuel , but only one arrived early in the summer, Evans said. That barge carried home heating fuel.
4. The oil bearing ship is plowing through ice to deliver oil, risking being ripped open and pouring it’s cargo into the ocean
5. The tanker got into position 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 in Nome. Evans said once the hose is laid, personnel will walk its entire length every 30 minutes to check for leaks. Each segment of hose will have its own spill containment area, and extra absorbent boom will be on hand in case of a spill.
6. AND THIS IS MUCH SAFER AND BETTER TO THE ENVIRONMENT THAN TO HAVE ALLOWED SHELL TO DRILL AND EITHER DELIVER BY TRUCK OR PIPELINE?