The United States has extended the life of the nation's only heavy ice breaker, the Polar Star, which returned to its home port in the city of Seattle after six months in a dry dock for repairs and upgrades, the Coast Guard announced in a press release on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2018) The United States has extended the life of the nation's only heavy ice breaker, the Polar Star, which returned to its home port in the city of Seattle after six months in a dry dock for repairs and upgrades, the Coast Guard announced in a press release on Thursday.
"Polar Star received extensive overhauls to equipment, most notably in auxiliary systems, generator upgrades and replacing propellers in preparation of supporting Operation Deep Freeze (ODF) 2019, the US military's contribution to the National Science Foundation managed US Antarctic Program," the release said.
The 42-year-old Polar Star is the only operational US heavy icebreaker. A second lighter-duty US icebreaker, the Healy, is used primarily for scientific research.
The US is a relative latecomer in a scramble to develop resources and in the Arctic and open the top of the world to commercial shipping. Russia operates a fleet of 41 icebreakers with another dozen under construction, according to published reports.
