The Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaking cutter Polar Star and crew departed Seattle Nov. 22 on their annual deployment to support U.S. scientific stations in the Antarctic.
Commissioned in 1976, the 399’x84’ Polar Star is now the Coast Guard’s sole operational heavy icebreaker, as the service works to recapitalize its fleet. Th Antarctic voyage supports Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint military mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).
This marks the 28th year that the Polar Star has supported ODF. Each year, the Polar Star breaks a navigable channel through the ice, allowing fuel and supply ships to reach McMurdo Station, which is the largest Antarctic station and the logistics hub of the USAP.
“After months of pre-deployment preparation and working together through various challenges, the cutter and crew are ready to embark on this enduring and critical mission,” said Capt. Jeff Rasnake, Polar Star’s commanding officer. “I couldn’t be prouder of this crew’s tremendous dedication and teamwork. They have met or exceeded all my expectations in the maintenance and training phases and continue to push themselves to build upon those successes as we now shift into the cutter’s operations phase.”
This year the Polar Star completed the fourth of five planned phases of a service life extension project (SLEP). The project aims to keep the Polar Star working at least until the commissioning of the first of three 460'x88' Polar Security Cutters, now under construction at Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
The U.S. Coast Guard provides direct logistical support to the NSF and maintains a regional presence that preserves Antarctica as a scientific refuge working under Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica (JTF-SFA). Every year, a joint and total force team works together to complete a successful Operation Deep Freeze season. The team includes active duty, National Guard and Reserve service members from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy working together.
