Coast Guard Icebreaker USCGC Polar Star Completes Antarctic Mission

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Polar Star, America's only operational heavy icebreaker, has successfully completed her annual mission to break out the cargo pier at McMurdo Sound. McMurdo is the home of the main U.S. Antarctic research base, and it gets only one big resupply delivery per year during the Southern Hemisphere's summer season.

This year's voyage was special, as it marked Polar Star's 50th year in commissioned service. The first in a series of two ships, Polar Star is among the world's most powerful nonnuclear icebreakers, capable of ramming through ice up to 30 feet thick. She typically performs one Antarctic mission for the Coast Guard per year and spends much of the off-season in drydock or in pierside refit status on the U.S. West Coast - a heavy and frequent maintenance cycle required to keep her aging systems operational. The Coast Guard is awaiting delivery of its future Polar Security Cutter series, which (though delayed) will provide a replacement.

This year's voyage provided new challenges. On January 17, Polar Star responded to a request for assistance from the cruise ship Scenic Eclipse II, which had been beset by pack ice near McMurdo Station. The ice-class passenger vessel was safe, but trapped and unable to maneuver free. Polar Star's crew made two close passes to break the cruise ship out of the ice, then escorted it for the short four nautical mile transit to open water and freedom. It happened to be the Polar Star's 50th anniversary of commissioned service, to the day.

Within the next few days, Polar Star broke out a seven-mile channel through fast ice so that cargo ships could call at McMurdo. First in was the product tanker Stena Polaris, carrying six million gallons of fuel to carry the science team at the station through the next season.

Next, Polar Star removed McMurdo's iconic "ice pier" - the engineered iceberg that serves as the quayside for the station - and made space for the Dutch heavy lift ship Plantijngracht. The cargo ship offloaded dry stores using an Army modular causeway system. Last of all, Polar Star escorted in the tug Rachel with a newly-built floating pier for McMurdo - a steel deck barge structure built by Gunderson and towed down from Portland, Oregon.

“I am so proud of how this crew, once again brought their best energy and worked together through every single challenge this year’s mission presented,” said Capt. Jeff Rasnake, commanding officer of the Polar Star. “Despite the heavy toll Operation Deep Freeze exacts on each individual, mentally and physically, our spirits remain high as we point our compass north and start our journey home.”