Coast Guard to send its icebreaker to Arctic region

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star will deploy to the Arctic Ocean instead of its usual winter mission to the Antarctic region, the Coast Guard announced.

The 399-foot icebreaker will "help protect the nation's maritime sovereignty and security in the region," a Coast Guard statement last week said.

Additionally, the ship's resupply mission to Antarctica's McMurdo Station, a multi-nation research facility, was cancelled this year due to COVID-19 pandemic safety precautions.

A U.S. Polar-class icebreaker has not been in the Arctic Ocean since 1994, the deactivated heavy icebreaker Polar Sea, which was one of the first two American surface ships to reach the North Pole.

The Polar Star, commissioned in 1976, is the U.S. military's only working icebreaker.

A second vessel, the USCGC Healy, suffered a fire in August, forcing the abandonment of an Arctic mission and a return to its homeport in Washington State for a new engine, among other repairs.

The Arctic Ocean area, with newly-found mineral deposits and new navigational routes opened by climate change, has become an area of interest to the seven nations it borders, notably Russia.

The Coast Guard reaffirmed U.S. leadership in the region in 2019, with the release of its Arctic Strategic Outlook, a plan emphasizing partnership and innovation.

"The Arctic is no longer an emerging frontier, but is instead a region of growing national importance," said Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area commander. "The Coast Guard is committed to protecting U.S. sovereignty and working with our partners to uphold a safe, secure, and rules-based Arctic."

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