Icebreakers importance in the arctic: the Healy, the Renda and Vitus Marine.

• Author: Harrington, Susan
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

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BERING SEA -- The Coast Guard Cutter Healy makes relief cuts in the ice around the Russian-flagged tanker Renda 97 miles south of Nome, Alaska, Jan. 10, 2012. The Healy is the Coast Guard's only operational polar icebreaker. The Cast Guard regularly conducts icebreaking activities in the Great Lakes and northern ports of the contiguous U.S. to facilitate the flow of commerce but this Alaska-based, operation is a new experience for the crew of Healy.

Some may think this story started Nov. 8 last year when a winter storm churned the seas near Nome so roughly a barge was prevented from supplying final shipment of the town's winter fuel. The storm in early November brought sea ice to Norton Sound by wind and ocean current and prevented the late delivery of 1.6 million gallons of diesel and gasoline ordered last May by Bonanza Fuel to top off the Sitnasuak Native Corp. subsidiary's 3.6 million gallon tank farm near the Port of Nome.

The canceled delivery created a bit of a problem for the 3,600 Nome residents living in the Western Alaska coastal community on Norton Sound. There wouldn't be enough fuel to make it through the winter.

"They had an issue where an 'outside' company couldn't complete a delivery and we found a solution," Vitus Marine co-founder Mark Smith says. "Two Alaska-based companies solved the problem--an Alaska-centric solution. It took a group of Alaskans that sat down and marshaled the resources to get the job done."

Those resources turned out to be rather large and encompassing, with involvement among federal, state and local governmental agencies and officials, the Alaska congressional delegation, the U.S. Coast Guard, business and industry. Before delivery was finally made in mid-January, more than two months after the big November storm, the solution to the Nome fuel situation became an international collaboration.

A situation, Smith pointed out, that was a critical resupply and not an emergency. There were two options, he said: they could attempt a marine resupply or they could wait and fly it in by planeload.

EARLIER BEGINNINGS

This story really started in 1935 with a family tug and barge lighterage service founded by Mark Smith's grandfather. Smith Lighterage Co. covered fuel sales and freight deliveries in Bristol Bay and grew to serve much of Western Alaska, according to Smith, who was born with a relationship to Western Alaska fuel delivery.

Eventually, the family business became part of a larger company, Northland Holdings Inc., and Northland became part of an even larger company, Australia-based Adsteam Marine Ltd. However, due to market issues Adsteam had to divest its Northland interests by 2005. In the meantime, Crowley Maritime Corp. had agreed to acquire the assets of Yukon Fuel, Yutana Barge Lines and two other Northland companies, which resulted in a lawsuit being filed by Alaska Village Electric Cooperative Inc., INN Electric Cooperative Inc., Kotzebue Electric Cooperative Inc., Naknek Electric Cooperative Inc., City of Nome d/b/a Nome Joint Utility System, Nushagak Electric and Telephone Cooperative Inc., and Unalakleet Valley Electric Cooperative. Following that lawsuit, a State of Alaska Consent to Decree requiring Crowley to divest some of its Western Alaska assets to Delta Western...