It appeared on Department of Defense navigation charts during the Cold War, and was listed as having a 13,500 ft (4100 metre) runway with jet capabilities.

It was intended for arctic staging by Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers based at southerly locations such as Belaya.

This was critical as the Soviet Union only had a small number of staging bases to reach North America.

It was monitored by US intelligence as a possible Tupolev Tu-22M (Backfire) staging base as late as 1980.

However several POL (petroleum, oil, and lubrication) farms fed by pipelines from the port facilities remain plainly visible on satellite imagery.