The US Coast Guard is falling behind in efforts to improve infrastructure that host Arctic operations, such as port facilities pictured here in Kodiak, Alaska. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
US Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10), the only US heavy icebreaker, departed Seattle, Washington, on 22 November, beginning its deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation ‘Deep Freeze', the USCG confirmed on 26 November.
The deployment comes in the wake of a recent US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report citing new icebreaker delivery delays and infrastructure overhaul backlogs for facilities and operations in the Arctic that are hindering USCG missions in the region.
‘Deep Freeze' is an annual joint military mission to resupply the US Antarctic stations in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).
Polar Star breaks a navigable channel annually 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, the USCG noted.
Annual deployment
Each year, the Polar Star 's crew prepares the 48-year-old cutter for the annual deployment in support of ‘Deep Freeze', the USCG said. In 2024 Polar Star completed the fourth of five planned phases of the service life extension project (SLEP).
The USCG is recapitalising its polar icebreaker fleet to ensure continued access to the polar regions and to protect the country's economic, environmental, and national security interests in the high latitudes, the USCG pointed out.
However, that recapitalisation – the building of a new fleet of icebreakers called Polar Security Cutters (PSCs) – is running behind schedule, the GAO noted in its report,
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