North Slope Borough to seek $300K for second underwater rescue drone after Nuvuk response exposed gaps

A rescue call last week exposed a gap in the North Slope Borough's underwater search-and-rescue capability: the response team in Nuvuk could only send three volunteers because hauling both the ROV and a generator left no room for a fourth. The mayor plans to close that gap with roughly $300,000 in supplemental funding, he told the North Slope Borough Assembly on Tuesday.

The money would cover a second remotely operated underwater vehicle and a parts package. The borough's existing ROV runs about $250,000. One unit means effectively having none, the mayor said.

"If you have one, you have none," he said, citing a conversation with the ROV technician. "At least having a second one would be a backup."

The generator problem is just as concrete. Most communities and personal power units top out at 2,000 watts. The ROV needs 3,500. That gap forced the Nuvuk team to haul a generator on the flight, bumping a fourth volunteer off the manifest. The mayor said he has already authorized the purchase of 3,500-watt generators for each community; the units weigh about 180 pounds with fuel. Pre-staging them means the next team can fly in a person instead of a power source.

The ROV program is about two years old. Annual training rotates between communities: last summer's session was in Point Hope, this summer's in Barrow. The mayor said volunteer buy-in has grown as crews have seen what the equipment can do.

Assemblyman Frederick Brower asked whether ROVs could be designated as capital improvement projects, which would open a path to distributing units more broadly. The mayor said he wants to see results from a second unit before expanding the fleet further.

"I don't want to end up in a position of buying 8 of them and maybe not having to use them all, and then in 5 years all 8 are outdated," he said.

The supplemental budget request is expected to come before the assembly next month.