You guys in the mid-Atlantic states think the weather hit you pretty
hard this week? Read on, it could be much, much worse.

I have to admit that I'm confused by the public affairs officer's
reference to the "harsh winter" conditions at South Pole Station.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it *summer* down there right now?
Maybe the reference is to the fact that Polar Star is just now
beginning a deployment that will last well into the austral winter?

Press Release Date: Feb. 14, 2006

Contact: Public Affairs
510-437-3375

POLAR STAR REACHES ANTARCTICA
MCMURDO STATION, Antartica - The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrived
in McMurdo Station, Antarctica Monday, after a non-stop 8,200 nautical
mile transit from its homeport of Seattle.

Polar Star, a 399-foot polar class icebreaker with a 130-person crew,
provided a relief channel and brief escort of U.S. Naval Ship Lawrence
H. Gianella before mooring in McMurdo.

While on deployment, Polar Star will conduct icebreaking operations in
McMurdo Sound and continue grooming a shipping channel previously
opened by the Russian icebreaker Krasin. The channel ensures that
vital cargo ships can deliver supplies to McMurdo Station, Antarctica's
largest scientific and support community. Polar Star also acts as a
floating research platform for scientists that travel onboard.

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 cutter's red
reinforced hull is made of 1.75 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. Polar Star has
deployed 15 times in support of Operation Deep Freeze.



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U.S. Coast Guard - 13th District
13th District Public Information Site
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