Annual Resupply Mission for U.S. Antarctic McMurdo Station Underway

The Military Sealift Command is reporting the first of two vessels has completed its deliveries to McMurdo Station, on the southern tip of Ross Island in Antarctica. The U.S. has maintained a base on the site since 1956 and each year MSC-charters cargo ships and a tanker to make the challenging voyage to resupply the base for the coming year.

The first of the two vessels on the annual trip is the Ocean Giant, a 17,590 dwt general cargo ship built in 2012 and operated by Florida-based Seabulk. She arrived at the base on January 26 and today, February 11, Military Sealift Command Pacific reports the offloading of supplies was completed. 

When Ocean Giant arrived this year she was also transporting new 24-foot pieces for a causeway vital to moving the supplies to the station. It is replacing the ice-pier at McMurdo which was made up of rebar and frozen seawater but was unusable this year due to severe damage.

 

Ocean Giant offloaded 380 pieces of cargo (Photo by Marie Morrow, Military Sealift Command Pacific)

 

Once the causeway was assembled and moved into place, Ocean Giant was able to moor and begin the cargo operations. The ship’s crew and members of Navy Cargo Handling Battalion ONE began the offload of 380 pieces of cargo, consisting of containers filled with mechanical parts, vehicles, construction materials, office supplies and electronics equipment, and mobile office units; supplies needed to sustain the next year of operations at McMurdo Station.

Ocean Giant will also load 360 containers of retrograde cargo for transportation off the continent. This includes trash and recyclable materials for disposal and equipment no longer required for the station. 

She was scheduled to depart on February 9 and the first stop on her return journey to the United States will be at Lyttelton, New Zealand. Following the Ocean Giaint, is the Ocean Gladiator which was due to reach Lyttelton on February 8. Built in 2010, she is a 17,700 dwt general cargo ship also under an annual charter to MSC. She will also be offloading cargo and when she departs she will also be retrieving the causeway.

Marie Morrow, MSC’s representative in Antarctica commented “Operating in the remote and challenging environment of Antarctica is unique to the ODF mission. Everyone involved has an important role to play and it is truly a joint mission. The ship operation takes teamwork and coordination from the ship’s crew, all elements of the Joint Task Force (United States Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air National Guard), civilian contractors, and New Zealand Defense Force integrated into cargo operations.”

Operation Deep Freeze as the mission is known is a joint service, on-going Defense Support to Civilian Authorities activity in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program. Mission support consists of active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard as well as Department of Defense civilians and attached non-DOD civilians.