 The gold mines were separated from Magadan Harbor by virtually impassable mountains; however, the mines could be reached from the Arctic coast of Chukchi Sea by river – "if" the ships managed to break through from Bering Strait to Kolyma River inlet.On 23 January 1932, the government assigned "Litke" and a smaller icebreaker, "Davydov", to guide Arctic convoys with over 13,000 tonnes of supplies, over 1,000 passengers and numerous small river craft, to the Kolyma settlements.The plan also considered the possibility that the ships would be trapped in the ice for the winter of 1932–1933, and they were supplied sufficiently to survive 14 months.