The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. The crew of the Seattle-based Polar Star is on deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2018, the U.S. military’s contribution to the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.

 

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Nick Ameen

 

The U.S. currently only has one operational icebreaker nearing the end of it’s service life. Here’s footage of one of Russia’s more than 40 ice breaking vessels: