polarstar – Pacific Maritime Magazine

27 Dec

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star Heads to Antarctica

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The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Star is on its way to Antarctica to support Operation Deep Freeze 2023, its 26th voyage to the continent. Operation Deep Freeze is a joint mission to replenish the U.S. Antarctic stations of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s lead agency. The crew, which left its homeport in Seattle on Nov. 16, made a four-day stop at Hobart, Australia, before leaving Dec. 21 across the Southern Ocean. In Hobart, crew members hosted guests from the Australian Antarctic Division, Australian Border Force, Tasmanian government officials and others, USCG said. “The reception was a…

USCG Cutter Polar Star Gets New Commanding Officer

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Capt. Keith Ropella is the new commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, succeeding Capt. William Woityra, who has been assigned to the Oceania Policy Division chief at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Honolulu. Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander, presided over the command change July 11 at the Maritime Museum in Vallejo, California. Ropella, who previously worked at the Office of Navigation Systems at Coast Guard Headquarters, takes charge of a soon-to-be upgraded Polar Star. The country’s sole heavy icebreaker is being outfitted with newer “machinery monitoring and controlling and propulsion power systems during…

USCG Cutter Polar Star Returns From Operation Deep Freeze

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After 147 days traveling in Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere for Operation Deep Freeze, the 140 crew members of the Seattle-based U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Star returned to the U.S., dry docking in Vallejo, Calif., for upgrades. Operation Deep Freeze is an annual mission supporting the National Science Foundation. During its most recent deployment, Polar Star made stops in Wellington and Lyttelton, New Zealand, and Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and hosted the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Navy. In Antarctica, the cutter moved through over 450 miles of pack ice and carved out a 37-mile…