Coast Guard icebreaker to head north on rare wintertime Arctic mission
Hal Bernton
, The Seattle Times
SEATTLE -- The global pandemic has resulted in a dramatic reshuffling of the annual cruise of the Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star. Instead of heading south into the unending light of the Antarctic summer, the Seattle-based vessel will journey north into the winter darkness of the Arctic.
As late as August, the 134 full-time crew were still preparing for their traditional role assisting in the resupply of the McMurdo Station on Ross Island, close to the Antarctic continent.
That mission was scuttled by the National Science Foundation as the coronavirus pandemic prompted research to be cut back and restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the virus reaching there. 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.
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2020/11/30/coast-guard-icebreaker-to-head-north-on-rare-wintertime-arctic-mission/
