US Icebreaker Fleet Based In Seattle - Both Ships - And Neither Of Them Work - NPR

[hatrack]

Seattle is the home of the U.S. Coast Guard's entire fleet of polar-class icebreakers. Both of them. Capt. George Pellissier commands both the Polar Sea and the Polar Star. He has spent much of his career on these ships, which were built in Seattle in the 1970s.

"The two ships are almost identical. They were built a year apart. Our design is to break 6 feet of ice continuously, and we can break up to 21 feet of ice," Pellissier says, referring to the thick "pressure ridges" that can form between sheets of ice in the waters north of Alaska, and which can trap and even crush less sturdy vessels.

He takes pride in the fact that these "polars," as they're called, are still among the most capable icebreakers out there — not counting the Russians' big nuclear-powered icebreakers.

But Pellissier admits that if an ice-breaking emergency broke out, America wouldn't have much to offer because, right now, neither polar icebreaker is functional. Four decades of ramming sea ice will do that. The Polar Star will recover — it's currently being refurbished — but the Polar Sea will be scrapped.

EDIT

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/19/139681324/in-the-arctic-race-the-u-s-lags-behind

[maxsolomon]

1. OMG panic NOW!

when was our last "ice breaking emergency"?

[HereSince1628]

3. Don't Panic...there is the little sister of the Polars...

and if ALL else fails, there is always

THERMONUCLEAR HEAT! It melts ice like one bad ass M***** *****R

[One_Life_To_Give]

5. Plus Healy, 9 140ft and 11 65ft harbor tugs

4 Red Hulled Icebreakers
(2) Polar class, Mackinaw and Healy
9 140 Icebreaking tugs
Plus
I think all the Black hulled buoy tenders have an Icebreaking rating.
For certain the 65' Harbor Tugs perform that duty.

[jpak]

4. They break ice for the annual resupply of McMurdo Station Antarctica

Recently, the US has been contracting Russian ice breakers to "help out" down there.

The station carried enough fuel for two years - just in case there is an "ice emergency" and the fuel ship cannot get through.

FYI

[hack89]

2. They are old ships - it would cost $400b each to significantly extend their lives. nt

[FBaggins]

6. I suspect that should be million rather than billion.

:)

[hack89]

9. Well, they do have solid gold hulls - or so I have been told!

good catch.

[Ptah]

10. Wikipedia says the cost to extend the life of the North Star is $400 million.

The Navy Times reports that a refit reactivating the Polar Star
for a further 25 years of duty would cost $400 million USD.<3>
A refit sufficient to reactivate the Polar Star for eight to ten years necessary to build a replacement would cost $56 million USD.
A refit sufficient to reactivate the Polar Star for a single season would cost $8.2 million USD.

The Navy Times explained that the National Science Foundation had been contributing
much of the cost of maintaining the vessels, because their primary responsibility
was scientific.<3> But that, starting in 2009, the National Science Foundation would
no longer be contributing to the Polar Star's upkeep, putting the vessel's future in question.

The United States Coast Guard plans to reactivate the Polar Star by 2013,
after being refitted by Todd Pacific Shipyards.<4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Polar_Star_%28WAGB-10%29

- - - - - - - - - -

Interesting that until 2009, the National Science Foundation was an important source of funds.

[hack89]

11. I know - it was a typo. nt

[dtexdem]

7. Thank goodness for global warming! We can no longer deal with ice.

;-)

Just another example of how America is in decline, in large part due to neglect of our infrastructure.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Yeah, well, global warming and the melting of the arctic makes them obsolete anyway. nt

[xchrom]

12. recommend

[Ptah]

13. until 2009, the National Science Foundation was an important source of funds

"The Navy Times explained that the National Science Foundation had been contributing
much of the cost of maintaining the vessels, because their primary responsibility
was scientific.<3> But that, starting in 2009, the National Science Foundation would
no longer be contributing to the Polar Star's upkeep, putting the vessel's future in question.

The United States Coast Guard plans to reactivate the Polar Star by 2013,
after being refitted by Todd Pacific Shipyards.<4>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Polar_Star_%28WAGB-10%29#Reserve_status_and_Reactivation


This is another loss for our scientific community, caused by too many wars. :grr: