POLAR STAR HEADS TO ANTARCTICA TO HELP RUSSIAN ICEBREAKER

"MEDIA AVAILABILITY"

SEATTLE – The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star will depart its homeport of Seattle Friday for Antarctica as requested by the National Science Foundation to provide support to the Russian Icebreaker Krasin after the vessel recently experienced mechanical problems.

Polar Star, a 399-foot polar class icebreaker with a 134-person crew, will transit directly to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station arriving in approximately 30 days. Polar Star has been on 48-hour standby in Seattle since the beginning of the austral summer in case it was needed for Antarctic support.

Krasin has opened a channel through the ice into McMurdo Station and is currently grooming the channel. Although Krasin will most likely complete the mission, the National Science Foundation took the prudent step of calling in Polar Star due to the vulnerability of Krasin to further mechanical difficulty and the short window remaining in the Antarctic summer season.

For the past 50 years, Coast Guard icebreakers have deployed to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, where ships have broken through as much as 84 nautical miles of ice to produce a navigable shipping channel into McMurdo Station. This vital shipping channel allows supply ships to deliver more than six million gallons of fuel and four thousand metric tons of cargo, enabling McMurdo Station and South Pole Station to remain manned and operational throughout the harsh winter months.

Polar Star, which was specifically designed for solo icebreaking in remote Polar Regions, turned 30 years old Jan. 17. The red cutter has a reinforced hull made of 1.5 inches of steel that covers a specially contoured icebreaking bow. The cutter can call on 75,000 shaft horsepower enabling it to break up to 21 feet of ice.

This will be the 51st Antarctic mission by a U.S. icebreaker. The first Operation Deep Freeze was carried out in 1955, the year that McMurdo Station was commissioned. Polar Star has deployed 15 times in support of Operation Deep Freeze, and 14 times for Arctic missions.

Media interested in covering the departure of the Polar Star should contact Ensign Harold Kiffer, Polar Star Public Affairs Officer, at (206) 217-6260 or the 13th Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office at (206) 220-7237. A representative from the Polar Star will be available for interviews at about 11:30 a.m.

###

The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.