Russian ship delivers fuel to remote Alaska town

An operation to deliver fuel to a remote Alaskan town made "good progress" and could be finished Wednesday, officials said after a Russian ship made a rare trip across the frozen Bering Sea.

The Russian tanker "Renda," which has been assisted by a US ice-breaker, began pumping fuel ashore late Monday in a meticulously planned operation to deliver some 1.3 million gallons of fuel for Nome's 3,500 residents. By Tuesday, everything was going smoothly as oil flowed through hose from the boat, locked into position in the ice some 460 yards (meters), to fuel storage tanks.

"The weather in Nome continues to be favorable. We're continuing to offload with continuous monitoring for safety of the operation and making good progress," said Mark Smith of fuel delivery firm Vitus Marine.

"I am very pleased with the way it is going," he added, saying he hoped the transfer could be done by Wednesday evening.

"Nobody wants to give out time frames because we want to go along not based on speed, but based on safety. You could say at our current rate we hope to wrap it up and finish in about 48 hours," he added.

The Russian tanker had to slog through 480 kilometers (300 miles) of ice, aided by the US icebreaker "Healy",before docking off the coast of Nome on Saturday. Locals described the noisy scene as the "Healy" broke ice in the port, then left to allow the Russian tanker to move into place.

"I heard the Healy crash its way into the harbor with ice breaking and knocking around," said Gary Samuelson, who lives on the road to the port and can see the ships from his home. AFP