After an extended drydock period, the nation’s sole heavy icebreaker Polar Star was in Honolulu in early December, preparing for her annual voyage to Antarctica, the online publication The Maritime Executive reported.
The 42-year-old U.S. Coast Guard vessel spends about six months each year in drydock on the West Coast before transiting south to break ice for the annual McMurdo Station resupply mission. McMurdo is America’s main logistics hub in Antarctica and the Polar Star is the only American ship that can clear a path to its pier so that cargo and fuel can be delivered.
The annual voyage to McMurdo Station, Operation Deep Freeze, is a joint military mission in support of the National Science Foundation. Since 1955, the U.S. Pacific Command has assisted in providing air and maritime support throughout the Antarctic continent, and the Board Guard has been the sole provider of polar ice breaking capability since 1965.
