Icebreaker Polar Star successfully plows a channel through the ice to McMurdo Station in Antarctica

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks a channel through the ice in the McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Dec. 30, 2023. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeremy Burgess.

Polar Star has successfully established a navigable channel through the ice to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. 

The channel ensures an uninterrupted resupply for McMurdo Station, a critical hub for the United States Antarctic Program. 

Broken 'fast' ice with Transantarctic mountains in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 14, 2024.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Graves

As the nation’s sole operational heavy icebreaker, the vessel is indispensable to sustaining both scientific research and logistical operations in the Antarctic region. 

The completion of the channel underscores the capability and dedication of the crew—enduring the harsh environmental conditions while maintaining the 48-year-old cutter through a challenging mission.

The U.S. military's support of U.S. Antarctic research began in 1955. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command proudly continues to lead the Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica team in providing logistic support for the United States Antarctic Program.

The Polar Star is homeported in Seattle and passes by Shoreline on its way in and out of Puget Sound.