MSC PAO 98-28
July 09, 1998
For more information, contact:
Marge Holtz or Bridget Morris
(202) 685-5055

Three ships break ice to Thule

Pacer Goose '98, the annual resupply mission to Thule Air Force Base 695 miles north of the Arctic Circle, began in early July. Each summer Military Sealift Command ships bring equipment and fuel for the following year to the remote base.

Thule, on North Star Bay in northwestern Greenland, has an average winter temperature of -13 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit and is iced in most of the year. Even in late July, MSC's cargo ship MV Green Wave and two tankers, MV Lawrence H. Gianella and MV Richard G. Matthiesen, will be accompanied the last 200 miles by the Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker CCGS Terry Fox.

The ice-strengthened and self-sustaining Green Wave will be delivering construction supplies, such as plywood, paint and drywall, and vehicles, such as snowmobiles, jeeps and trucks. Green Wave has her own cranes, enabling her to unload cargo in primitive harbors such as Thule. The ship is currently loading supplies in Norfolk, Va.

Green Wave will begin the eight-day journey north to rendezvous with CCGS Terry Fox at the ice edge 190 miles south of Thule. There they will begin the two- to three-day journey north, arriving in Thule July 21. Green Wave will then unload the supplies and equipment and load broken vehicles and other materials that cannot be disposed of at Thule for the return trip to the U.S.

Gianella and Matthiesen are currently taking on fuel for Thule in Algeciras, Spain, and St. Theodore, Greece. Gianella and Matthiesen are both double-hulled, ice-strengthened tankers, perfectly suited for the harsh demands of Arctic travel. Gianella will begin the eight-day journey to the ice edge on July 12, rendezvousing with Terry Fox on July 20. Matthiesen will begin the 11-day journey from Greece to the ice edge July 10, arriving July 21. Depending on ice conditions, Terry Fox will either escort both tankers together to Thule on July 21 or escort each ship separately. The tankers will be in Thule by July 24.

Upon arrival at the air force base, the two tankers will anchor offshore and pump fuel through hoses into huge onshore fuel tanks.

By July 27, having stocked the isolated 1,525 person base for the coming year, Green Wave, Gianella and Matthiesen will depart for their next ports of call.

Thule Air Force Base, whose name is derived from the Latin "Ultima Thule" meaning northernmost part of the habitable world, will be habitable for another year.