City Council approved funding for an emergency mooring buoy on Friday during a special meeting. Mayor Shirley Marquardt explained during the meeting that the buoy is necessary to make Unalaska a true port of refuge for vessels transiting the Great Circle shipping route.

Currently, there’s nowhere for extremely large vessels in distress to tie up. Marquardt says that’s caused problems a number of times over the last few years, particularly with the disabled bulk carrier Golden Seas. The vessel’s deep draft made it impossible to bring it into the Port of Dutch Harbor or Captain’s Bay, so it ended up anchoring off of Hog Island in gale force winds and 25-foot seas. Although the Golden Seas’ anchor held, Marquardt pointed to it as an example of a potential disaster.

A grant from the Denali Commission will cover the cost of the $250,000 project. Marquardt says that’s a bargain compared to the initial cost estimate of $10 million. She says the city was able to bring down the price by enlisting the help of Shell Oil and its subcontractors. Harvey Gulf is shipping the buoy’s components from Louisiana for free and Shell is going to use its vessels and equipment to install the buoy. It’s slated to be deployed in Broad Bay this summer.