MT Renda

In February 2005, a 5,782 GT general cargo ship Passat send out a distress call after the vessel became trapped among ice floes 32 nautical miles (59 km; 37 mi) from the southern tip of Sakhalin Island. Passat had been underway from Korsakov (Russia) to Busan (South Korea) when it encountered difficult ice conditions. By the time a decision was made to turn back, the vessel had already been surrounded by ice. The distress call was picked up by Renda. The oil tanker, designed for operations in the ice-infested Arctic waters, reached the icebound Passat, cut her free from the ice, and escorted the general cargo ship to open water.[7][8]

Renda escorted by USCGC Healy (WAGB-20)

In November 2011, a late fall storm prevented the final fuel delivery by a barge to Nome, Alaska. Without this, the city of 3,600 inhabitants would run out of fuel months before the first shipment could be arranged in late May or June of the following year.[9] As a result, the ice-strengthened oil tanker Renda was chartered to carry a cargo of diesel fuel, heating oil and gasoline to the city. This was the first time a fuel supply mission was attempted in the middle of the winter. In January 2012, a Jones Act waiver was arranged with the support of Alaska's congressional delegation so that Renda could load fuel at Dutch Harbor and transport it to Nome, a task normally reserved for US-flagged vessels.[4]

At the time, Nome was separated from open water by a 300-mile (480 km) pack ice field. The task of escorting Renda safely to the icebound city was given to USCGC Healy, the only American icebreaker in service at the time. The ten-day voyage through the ice was closely followed by the press.[10][11]

While welcomed by the residents, the fuel supply mission raised questions about the capability of the Coast Guard icebreaker fleet. At the time, Healy was the only active polar icebreaker in the United States while in the meantime Russia had 26 polar icebreakers in service, including a number of heavy nuclear-powered ones.[12][13]