The Polar Star has a sister ship, the Polar Sea, but that has been deactivated and is being cannibalized for parts. The only other major American icebreaker is the USCGC Healy, a big boat but only a medium icebreaker.
From The Maritime Executive, Jan. 18:
Despite Breakdowns and Missed Pay, Polar Star Reaches Antarctica
The 150 crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrived Thursday in Antarctica, fulfilling their yearly mission to to resupply America's main outpost on the continent.Previously:
The 42-year-old ship is the United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, and the crew - which has not been paid since December - is making their sixth deployment in as many years to support the resupply of McMurdo Station.
Each year, the Polar Star creates a navigable path through seasonal and multi-year ice, sometimes as much as 21 feet thick, to allow a resupply vessel to reach McMurdo Station. The supply delivery allows multiple Antarctic stations to stay operational year-round, including during the dark and tumultuous Antarctic winter.
The Polar Star arrived after completing an 18-mile trip through the ice to McMurdo Sound, where 400 containers will be offloaded from the supply ship Ocean Giant.
The U.S. Coast Guard maintains two icebreakers – the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, which is a medium icebreaker, and the Polar Star. Protecting America's interests in the polar regions is part of the Coast Guard's national defense mission, along with providing search and rescue capabilities. In order to keep carrying out this mission, the agency says that its icebreaker fleet desperately needs modernization.
The Polar Star is showing her four decades of age, and she is now only capable of one mission per year. She spends the northern hemisphere's winter breaking ice near Antarctica, and when the mission is complete, she returns to drydock on the U.S. West Coast. With a six-month-long drydock period scheduled after every six months, she may well be a contender for the title of the most maintenance-intensive vessel in operation today - especially considering her frequent need for damage control under way.
During this year’s deployment, one of the ship’s electrical systems began to smoke, causing damage to wiring in an electrical switchboard, and one of the ship’s two evaporators used to make drinkable water failed. Like last year, she also experienced a leak from a shaft seal, which halted icebreaking operations until scuba divers could make repairs....MORE
"US Coast Guard Turns Down Arctic Exercise Because 40-year-old Icebreaker Might Break Down And Would Require Russian Help"
Back in March we intro'd "U.S. Navy Releases Proposal Request for Coast Guard’s New Heavy Polar Icebreaker" with:
If the U.S. were serious the request-for-proposal would be for six ships and they would have been started five to ten years ago.
China, a non-polar nation already has a small fleet of light and medium icebreakers and is rumored to have plans for a new medium with a 3-3.5 meter-thick-ice capability as a stepping-stone to a couple heavy icebreakers by the mid-to-late 2020's. They are serious about their Polar Silk Road.*
