Showing posts with label icebreaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label icebreaker. Show all posts

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Polar Star at McMurdo Sound

Friday, January 20, 2023

Ice liberty at McMurdo Sound
Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Aidan Cooney

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) reaches McMurdo Sound on its way to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. While in the Sound, the crew was granted ice liberty and were able to get off the ship to explore the surrounding area.

Training for ice rescues
Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Aidan Cooney

While on the ice, members of the crew also took the opportunity to conduct ice rescue training.

Polar Star is participating in Operation Deep Freeze 2023, a joint service, inter-agency support operation for the National Science Foundation, which manages the United States Antarctic Program.

More photos here: https://www.dvidshub.net/.../coast-guard-cutter-polar...

The Polar Star is a Coast Guard ship, homeparted in Puget Sound and frequently seen from Shoreline.



Read more...

USCG cutter Healy meets Santa

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Earlier this year, researchers aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy reached the North Pole for the third time in the ship's career. 
And who did they happen to find? Santa  of course!

The trip to the Arctic was part of the international Synoptic Arctic Survey, a research initiative aimed at collecting empirical data in the Arctic Ocean. The goal of the research is to build a comprehensive data set to provide a baseline and track climate change and its impact on the Arctic.

Want to learn more about the research? Check out this blog from author and artist Leonard Sussman who was aboard the "Healy" during the cruise https://bit.ly/3YM7B8a (His blog has gorgeous photos)



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Working in darkness

Monday, November 21, 2022

A CTD retrieval out of the icy Arctic Ocean. HEALY has been supporting oceanographic research conducted by various Arctic research specialists in the high latitudes over the past several months. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Deborah Heldt Cordone, Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist 1.


The icebreaker Healy is back home in Puget Sound after their latest deployment to the Arctic.

When operating in the Arctic on USCGC Healy (WAGB 20), science evolutions were conducted on an almost daily basis in varying conditions, including in the marginal ice zone, pack ice, open water, snow, sleet, day, night, and twilight.

Over the deployment’s final week of scientific operations, crew members and the science team conducted operations in darkness, which stood in contrast to the midnight sun that had been observed in July and the constant twilight previously experienced during the transit toward the North Pole. 

Sediment, water, and biological samples are obtained by deploying science equipment such as the CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) rosette, multinet, bongo nets, van veen grab, and multicore. 

These samples are then analyzed immediately in Healy’s laboratories or stored onboard for later transport to a laboratory ashore. 



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Ice liberty at the North Pole

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

From video by Chief Petty Officer Roy Mesen Scott
US Coast Guard Cutter Healy, homeported in Seattle, was at the North Pole at the beginning of October.

Crew members were given liberty for an icebreaker's version of "shore leave." There were no reports of pickup ice hockey games but it appears that a lot of ice fishing was going on.



Read more...

Scene on the Sound: The Polar Star returns

Monday, October 31, 2022

 
Photo by Jan Hansen

In the golden light of the sunset, from my living room I am viewing the Polar Star at anchor just south of Jefferson Head. Welcome home.

--Jan Hansen

Photo by Jan Hansen

The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, the Polar Star, sailed through Shoreline about 3:15 in the afternoon on Saturday, October 29, 2022.

USCGC POLAR STAR (WAGB 10) Homeported in Seattle, Washington, US Coast Guard Cutter POLAR STAR (WAGB 10) is the United States' only heavy icebreaker. Commissioned in 1976, she was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding along with her now decommissioned sister ship, POLAR SEA (WAGB 11). 

Three aviation-grade gas turbine engines provide USCGC POLAR STAR with up to 75,000 horsepower, making her the most powerful ship in the US Coast Guard. Each year, POLAR STAR travels to McMurdo Station, Antarctica to lead Operation Deep Freeze and break miles of ice up to 21 feet thick.


Read more...

Coasties: The John McCormick in Alaska

Monday, August 29, 2022

The John McCormick photo by Jan Hansen

Photo and Story by Jan Hansen

I looked for the Healey, and found the McCormick in Ketchikan.
 
Wikipedia:
USCGC John McCormick (WPC-1121) is the United States Coast Guard's 21st Sentinel-class cutter, and the first to be stationed in Alaska, where homeported at Coast Guard Base Ketchikan.

The vessel's manufacturer, Bollinger Shipyards, of Lockport, Louisiana, delivered the ship to the Coast Guard on December 13, 2016, for her acceptance trials, and then John McCormick was commissioned on April 12, 2017 in Ketchikan, Alaska.

And speaking of the Healy - check this out!




Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: The Healy is in the Arctic with the polar bears

Healy crew members gather to see the polar bear

Icebreaker Healy crew members were treated to the sighting of Ursus maritimus, a polar bear, on Saturday, August 20, 2022. 

The polar bear was located a couple thousand yards off the port side of the ship and stayed there long enough for the crew to observe or take a long-distance photo.


U.S. Coast Guard photos by Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Seevers, Petty Officer First Class Michael Underwood, and Deborah Heldt Cordone, Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist 1. Courtesy photo provided by Lee Freitag, Principal Engineer onboard for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: The USCGC Healy returns to the Arctic

Monday, August 15, 2022

CWO2 Mike Latin, Operations Officer, USNIC preparing to deploy a spotter buoy.
Photo credit: CWO2 Mike Latin
The US Coast Guard Cutter Healy is back in the Arctic, doing its summer patrol. As before they are partnering with other agencies, in this case, the US National Ice Center (USNIC) a multi-agency operational center operated by the United States Navy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In situ, Latin for "in its original place or position," observations are essential to understanding our oceans and atmosphere. 

Unfortunately, in situ observations at high latitudes are sparse.

A spotter buoy floating into the ice.
Photo credit: CWO2 Mike Latin

In an effort to close this data gap, USNIC personnel will deploy 5 Sofar Ocean spotter buoys from U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy during its summer patrol of the Arctic.

Spotters are compact, easy to use, and built to endure harsh operating environments.



Read more...

Meanwhile, at the end of the world, US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is part of Operation Deep Freeze

Monday, February 28, 2022

US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star

Here'a another of the Coast Guard icebreakers that sail by our shore on Puget Sound. The US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is in Antarctica, breaking through floes of ice.

By PA3 Diolanda Caballero

After a long transit from Seattle, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's crew have been busting through Antarctic ice, clearing the way for supply vessels to reach McMurdo Station!


Polar Star's crew is supporting Operation Deep Freeze (ODF). This year marks the cutter's 25th mission to Antarctica, supporting #ODF.

Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica provides Department of Defense support to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Antarctic Program through ODF.


The ODF primary season runs annually, from August through July. This timeframe allows the NSF's research teams and partnered entities the safest and most efficient method of accomplishing their joint goals.

--Photos courtesy US Coast Guard



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: 133 days, 22,000 miles - the Healy returns home

Saturday, November 20, 2021

The Healy sails by Shoreline after a 133 day deployment circumnavigating North America.
Photo by Jan Hansen

SEATTLE — The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) returned to their Seattle homeport Saturday following a 22,000-mile, 133-day deployment circumnavigating North America.

The Healy in Elliot Bay. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Strohmaier.

The crew aboard Healy, a 420-ft. medium icebreaker, provided U.S. surface presence in the Arctic, supported high-latitude oceanographic research missions, participated in an international search-and-rescue exercise, and engaged in passing exercises with surface vessels from the U.S. Navy, Canadian Navy, and Mexican Navy.

The crew aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) approach the pier at Base Seattle Saturday, November 20, after completing a 22,000-mile, 133-day deployment circumnavigating North America. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Clark

Healy’s crew hosted members of the international science community and institutions from the U.S., Canada, Norway and Denmark who conducted oceanographic research throughout the Arctic including the Northwest Passage and within Baffin Bay to monitor environmental change.

Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) crew members and a team of international scientists deploy an autonomous glider into Disko Bay on Sept. 19, 2021. Photo by Chief Petty Officer Matthew Masaschi.

Healy crew members also facilitated 430 over-the-side casts of various scientific instruments including a Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) array that requires the cutter to station keep as wire lowers and recovers the instrument from below the surface. Additionally, Healy mapped over 20,000-square kilometers of the seafloor, including 12,000-square kilometers of previously unmapped regions, throughout the patrol.

An aircrew aboard a Canadian coast guard Bell 429 helicopter prepares to land aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) while near Resolute, Nunavut, Canada on Sept. 6, 2021. Healy’s crew conducted a professional exchange with members of the Canadian coast guard prior to commencing a joint search and rescue exercise with the two Services and the Canadian Rangers. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer First Class Michael Underwood.

Healy transited north of Canada via the Northwest Passage, where the crew rendezvoused with members of the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Rangers for a search-and-rescue exercise. The crew transited south of Mexico via the Panama Canal on their way home. Healy’s deployment supported the Coast Guard’s Arctic Strategy while providing critical training opportunities for future icebreaker sailors.

Royal Canadian Navy Lt. Sebastien Savard plots the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy's (WAGB 20) course and location on a chart while operating in Baffin Bay, Sept. 16, 2021. Sevard, a crewmember aboard HMCS REGINA homeported in Victoria, BC, is sailing aboard Healy along with five other temporary duty officers from the Royal Navy, the U.S. Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Matt Masaschi

“Healy’s crew demonstrated their tremendous dedication to duty while carrying out the Coast Guard’s Arctic mission, operating in some of the harshest regions in the world,” said Coast Guard Cutter Healy’s Commanding Officer Capt. Kenneth Boda. 
“They assisted teams of scientists in gathering invaluable data and information throughout the deployment. This research will be shared with laboratories, universities and institutions around the world to support research focused on the changing Arctic environment.”


While transiting down the east coast of the United States and back up the west coast of Mexico, Healy engaged in multiple outreach events including passing exercises, professional exchanges, and embarking distinguished visitors to bolster relations with other nations.

Members of Coast Guard Cutter Healy’s temporary regional dive locker team conduct a familiarization dive in the Chukchi Sea, July 26, 2021. During the Healy’s Northwest Passage deployment, the cutter and crew are operating within first year and multiyear ice throughout the Arctic and documenting how variable Arctic summer weather conditions impact Coast Guard operations. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Janessa Warschkow.

Healy deploys annually to the Arctic in support of oceanographic research and Operation Arctic Shield, the Service’s annual operation to execute U.S. Coast Guard missions, enhance maritime domain awareness, strengthen partnerships, and build preparedness, prevention, and response capabilities across the Arctic domain.

Spotlights illuminate the ice on the Beaufort Sea ahead of Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) while en route to the Northwest Passage on Sept. 1, 2021. Healy’s deployment marks its first transit through the Northwest Passage since 2003. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Matt Masaschi.

Commissioned in 2000, Healy is one of two active polar icebreakers in the Coast Guard’s fleet. Healy is capable of breaking 4 feet of ice continuously and up to 8 feet of ice while backing and ramming.

The U.S. Coast Guard is recapitalizing its polar icebreaker fleet to ensure continued access to the Polar Regions and protect the country's economic, commercial, environmental, and national security interests.

Commander Philip Baxa, operations officer aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20), hugs his family at the Base Seattle pier Saturday, Nov. 20. Commander Baxa and the crew arrived at their homeport of Seattle after a 22,000-mile, 133-day deployment circumnavigating North America. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Clark.

The Coast Guard and U.S. Navy, through an integrated program office, on April 23, 2019, awarded VT Halter Marine Inc., of Pascagoula, Mississippi, a fixed-price incentive contract for the detail, design and construction of the lead Polar security cutter with contract delivery planned for 2025.

--Coast Guard Pacific Area News

Additional photos from Healy's deployment are available here.
Previous articles here



Read more...

Scene on the Sound: The Polar Star departs for Antarctica

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Coast Guard cutter Polar Star heading for Antarctica
Photo by Jan Hansen
Sailing past Shoreline on November 13, 2021 the Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, the only heavy icebreaker in America’s fleet, departed for Antarctica for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

In an annual journey, the 46-year old Polar Star is heading to McMurdo Station on Ross Island in Antarctica to deliver a year’s supply of cargo and fuel to the U.S. scientists stationed in the area.

Commissioned in 1976, the ship was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington along with sister ship, USCGC Polar Sea.

updated 11-14-2021

Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Passing exercises with American and Canadian vessels

Saturday, November 13, 2021

The larger vessel 430 is a Canadian Arctic Patrol vessel. The smaller P131 is ARM "HOLZINGER". The  HMCS Harry DeWolf 430 just transited the Canadian Northwest Passage east to west and is headed for the Panama Canal and Atlantic Ocean and north to Nova Scotia 

Look who the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy met up with while transiting the Pacific on their way back home to Seattle!

Healy (WAGB 20) performed a Passing Exercise (PASSEX) with crews aboard the Royal Canadian Navy HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430) and Secretaría de Marina (SEMAR) ARM Holzinger (PO-131) last week in the Pacific Ocean.
A PASSEX is an opportunity for crews to work with partner sea services through at-sea training scenarios like bridge-to-bridge communication drills or maneuvering exercises. Rendezvous at sea with other navies and coast guards increase the performance and effectiveness of our crews and support joint-operation partnerships.

Photos by SEMAR and Coast Guard Cutter Healy crew members BM2 Michael Martini, MK1 Michael Underwood, and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary CGPA1 Deborah Cordone. North American Aerospace Defense Command

USS Jason Dunham
In October 2021, the U.S. Navy 2nd Fleet and U.S. Coast Guard participated in a different passing exercise (PASSEX).

Helicopter coming in for a landing on the Healy
The USS JASON DUNHAM and Coast Guard Cutter HEALY (WAGB 20) conducted passing and helicopter operations with an HH60R as an opportunity to strengthen maneuvering and communication interoperability between the services.

U.S. Coast Guard photos by Deborah Heldt Cordone, AUXPA1, and Petty Officer First Class Michael Underwood.



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Admiral Karl Schultz says "Great to see a red hull and her outstanding crew in Baltimore"

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

The Healy at dock in Baltimore

While HEALY was in port, its crew hosted a number of distinguished visitors including Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK); Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24th); Rep. Carlos Gimenez (FL-26); LT Governor Boyd Rutherford of Maryland; General Eric Smith, Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps; Lt General Marc Sasseville Vice Chief, National Guard Bureau as well as Arctic, scientific, security, administration, and Congressional partners aboard.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski tours the ship

HEALY recently completed a transit through the Northwest Passage. A once unnavigable region laden with sea ice, the Northwest Passage is now more accessible to commercial traffic and shortens the shipping route between Asia and Europe by 2,500 miles. 

As climate change decreases the presence of ice and allows an increase in maritime commerce, the Coast Guard’s role in the Arctic is more relevant than ever.
 
Upon leaving Baltimore, HEALY will continue her circumnavigation of the U.S. on her way back home to Seattle, WA.



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Raising the colors near Ft. McHenry

Monday, November 8, 2021

U.S. Coast Guard photos by Deborah Heldt Cordone, AUXPA1.

Morning Colors on the fantail of USCGC Healy at sunrise, overlooking the Francis Scott Key Bridge spanning the lower Patapsco River in Baltimore Harbor.

Raising the colors. U.S. Coast Guard photos by Deborah Heldt Cordone, AUXPA1

An honor for DC3 Caleb Gittleson raising colors in the historical vicinity of Ft. McHenry, where the valiant defense of the fort during the Battle of Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that became the U.S. National Anthem.



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Visiting brass come aboard off Portsmouth, Virginia

Monday, November 1, 2021


U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command

U.S. Atlantic Area, U.S. Navy 2nd Fleet, and District 5 commanders took time Sunday, October 24, 2021 to visit members of the fleet off of Portsmouth, Virginia.
 
Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, commander U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, Rear Adm. Laura Dickey, commander U.S. Coast Guard 5th District, and Rear Adm. Steve Waddell, vice commander, U.S. Navy 2nd Fleet, joined the command and crew of the USCGC Healy (WAGB 20).

Touring the ship

The global importance of the Arctic continues to grow, particularly with shifting geopolitical, economic, and environmental challenges. Partnerships are crucial to designing solutions. Arctic engagements must be based on collaboration and partnerships with other federal agencies, academic institutions, and multinational partners.

Touring the state of the art command center

The role of both the Coast Guard and the U.S. government in the Arctic will grow in the coming years as the region becomes more accessible to wide-ranging commercial activities, including shorter shipping routes and eco-tourism vessel traffic. As activity in the Arctic increases, so will demand on Coast Guard services.

The visitors took advantage of the Healy's helicopter pad

Healy's deployment demonstrates the United States' commitment to ensuring a safe and secure Arctic. The cutter crew is deployed for four and a half months to conduct operational ice testing, strengthen relationships with partner nations, project U.S. presence, and protect U.S. sovereignty rights along the shared U.S.-Russia maritime boundary line.

Heading out - the view of the Healy from the air

These efforts uphold the rule of law and deter threats to international maritime norms.

The Healy heads out into open water in the Atlantic

Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area oversees all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf. This area includes the Atlantic Arctic and participation in joint exercises, including Operation Nanook and Exercise Argus.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Dana Grady



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Sailing into Baltimore harbor

Friday, October 29, 2021


On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, the Healy arrived at U.S. Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay in Baltimore.


Where they received a warm welcome!

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy is in Baltimore, more than 2,500 miles (as the crow flies) from homeport in Seattle.

Following a summer of science and engagements with partners they are circumnavigating North America on their route home.
 
PA3 Breanna Centeno U.S. Coast Guard Mid-Atlantic



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: Discovery of the sunken boat U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear

Thursday, October 28, 2021

U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear leading SS Corwin (an ex-U.S. Revenue Cutter) into Nome Roadstead, 1915. Image courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

As the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy returns to the U.S. (Boston) continuing its historic circumnavigation of North America, it seems befitting the historic U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear (once captained by Mike Healy), has been located in the northern Atlantic. This is an exciting find!


Possible stern tube of the shipwreck explored in 2021. Image courtesy of NOAA/MITech.


Comparison of bolt patterns from 1933 photograph (left) and structure observed in the 2021 remotely operated vehicle survey of the shipwreck. Left image courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection; right images courtesy of NOAA/MITech.

Read more about the Bear in this article from NOAA here



Read more...

Adventures of an Icebreaker: from Greenland to Boston

Saturday, October 23, 2021

The Healy is escorted into Boston
Photo U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston

Welcome to Boston!

Healy, on the horizon, coming in to Boston
Photo U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston

Thank you to Coast Guard Station Boston for escorting U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in for their port call.

Arriving to CG Station Boston
Photo U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston

U.S. Coast Guard Northeast Sector includes CGCs Key Largo, Reef Shark, and Pendant and Stations Merrimack River, Gloucester, Boston.

The USCGC Healy (WAGB 20) moors at the pier in Boston on Oct. 14, 2021. 
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Emma Filszar

Healy’s deployment demonstrates the United States’ commitment to ensuring a safe and secure Arctic. The cutter crew is deployed for four and a half months to conduct operational ice testing, strengthen relationships with partner nations, project U.S. presence, and protect U.S. sovereignty rights along the shared U.S.-Russia maritime boundary line. These efforts uphold the rule of law and deter threats to international maritime norms. 

While in Boston, the U.S. Coast Guard held an Arctic discussion roundtable aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

The event's purpose was to build relationships, identify areas for future collaboration, engage Arctic thinkers, and gain different perspectives on threats and opportunities pertinent to the Arctic. The group discussed topics ranging from science to Arctic governance.

Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, Atlantic Area commander, Rear Adm. Thomas Allan, 1st District commander, and Capt. Kenneth Boda, commanding officer of Healy, joined more than 20 professors, students, and Arctic leaders from multiple U.S. universities. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Emma Filszar.



Read more...
ShorelineAreaNews.com
Facebook: Shoreline Area News
Twitter: @ShorelineArea
Daily Email edition (don't forget to respond to the Follow.it email)

  © Blogger template The Professional Template II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP