The heavy ice breaker USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) breaks ice approaching McMurdo Station, Antarctica, January 25, 2023. U.S. Navy Photo

The U.S. Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) arrived in Antarctica this week as part of its annual resupply mission to McMurdo Station, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s logistical hub and largest station on the frozen continent.

Operation Deep Freeze is a joint military service mission to resupply U.S. National Science Foundation research stations in Antarctica.

This year’s mission marks Polar Star’s 26th voyage to the frozen continent, where it is tasked with breaking a navigable channel through miles of ice to allow fuel and supply ships to reach McMurdo Station’s ice pier.

At 46-years-old, Polar Star is the United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker.

This year also marks the Polar Star’s second year returning to Antarctica after the 2021 operation was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Polar Star’s efforts are already starting to bear fruit. The icebreaker was joined by the Military Sealift Command-charted cargo ship Ocean Giant which is carrying 7 million pounds of cargo and the modular causeway system needed for offloading.

Ocean Giant departed Port Hueneme, California earlier this month with 503 pieces of cargo including containers filled with mechanical parts, vehicles, construction materials, office supplies and electronics equipment, and also a mobile home—equal to approximately 80 percent McMurdo Station’s supplies for the year.

Meanwhile a second MSC-chartered ship, the Maersk Peary tanker, will be arriving from Greece to deliver 100% of the diesel and jet fuel needed for the year.

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antarctica

 

u.s. coast guard

 

uscgc polar star

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