Adventures of an Icebreaker: It takes a lot of horsepower to break through eight feet of ice

MK2 Candace Coolberth and MK2 James Carl troubleshoot and repair one of the Main Diesel Engine’s automated lube oil strainers while underway in the Chukchi Sea during Healy’s Arctic deployment. U.S. Coast Guard Photos by Chief Petty Officer Matt Masaschi

Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the largest ship in the U.S. Coast Guard at 420 ft., is powered by a diesel-electric power plant generating enough power for the medium icebreaker to bash its way through Arctic ice up to 8 ft. thick!

U.S. Coast Guard Photos by Chief Petty Officer Matt Masaschi

Machinery technicians aboard Healy, assigned to the Main Prop division, stay busy maintaining and repairing the ship’s four 12-cylinder Main Diesel Engines which turn the ships four electric generators.

The Healy and its crew are currently circumnavigating North America promoting U.S. interests along the U.S. and Russia maritime boundary line, conducting Coast Guard missions and supporting scientific research throughout the Arctic.