The 399-foot icebreaker is the only ship in U.S. service capable of clearing a path through the Antarctic ice to escort three refuel and resupply ships to McMurdo Station during Operation Deep Freeze. Heavy Icebreaker Is Falling Apart On Antarctic Mission The Polar Star is the only ship the United States has to cut paths through the toughest Arctic and Antarctic ice. The current plan for the replacement and expansion of its icebreaker fleet comes in the form of the Polar Security Cutter (PSC) program, and it is remarkably limited in its ambition. “This is going to be an amazing adventure,” said Capt. U.S. Coast Guard. After Polar Sea was deactivated in 2010, Polar Star became the US's only heavy icebreaker, the Coast Guard's other icebreaker, USCGC Healy, is classified as a medium icebreaker. Only U.S. William Woityra, the 44-year-old commanding officer of the 399-foot Polar Star. A starboard view of the anchored US Coast Guard icebreaker POLAR STAR (WAGB 10). So, in September, the Coast Guard decided to send the Polar Star on the first U.S. icebreaker winter cruise into Arctic waters since 1982. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) is underway in the Chukchi Sea, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, at about 10:30 a.m. Russia has long seen the waters off their northern coast … USCGC Polar Star - the U.S. Coast Guard's only heavy icebreaker. Homeported in Seattle, Polar Star operates under the control of Pacific Area and coordinates its operations through the Ice Operations Section of the United States Coast Guard. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star navigates heavy seas in the Gulf of Alaska, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Switching Poles, USCG's Heavy Icebreaker Heads North for the Winter Polar Star in Seattle's harbor (USCG file image) By The Maritime Executive 10-29-2020 07:42:57 The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrives at Pier 26 on Coast Guard Base Seattle after a 108-day deployment to Antarctica, March 21, 2014. Meet the icebreaker Polar Star, the neglected stepchild of the U.S. military industrial complex . The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) is in the fast Ice Jan. 2, 2020, approximately 20 miles north of McMurdo Station, Antarctica.