{"id":19226,"date":"2019-02-28T22:35:38","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T22:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/28\/coast-guards-last-heavy-icebreaker-caught-on-fire-during-south-pole-mission\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:02:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:02:40","slug":"coast-guards-last-heavy-icebreaker-caught-on-fire-during-south-pole-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/28\/coast-guards-last-heavy-icebreaker-caught-on-fire-during-south-pole-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard\u2019s last heavy icebreaker caught on fire during South Pole mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The crew of the Coast Guard\u2019s last heavy icebreaker battled a nighttime Feb. 10 blaze for almost two hours before it was extinguished, officials announced Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fire erupted in the Polar Star\u2019s garbage incinerator room about 650 miles north of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a serious matter whenever a shipboard fire breaks out at sea, and it\u2019s even more concerning when that ship is in one of the most remote places on Earth,\u201d said Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s Pacific Area, in a written statement emailed to Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe crew of the Polar Star did an outstanding job \u2014 their expert response and determination ensured the safety of everyone aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one was injured and the cause of the blaze remains under investigation but the fire was another mechanical woe stacked atop an aging breaker that\u2019s annually tasked to perform its part in Operation Deep Freeze<\/a>, a mission by the Air Force, Navy, Army and National Guard to support the National Science Foundation\u2019s Antarctic operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After sailing from its Seattle homeport on Nov. 27, the Polar Star began crunching a channel through 17 miles of ice measured at 6- to 10-feet thick to McMurdo Station, the main logistics hub for U.S. personnel in Antarctica, including researchers at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and remote field camps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Jan. 30, the icebreaker escorted the container ship Ocean Giant, toting 500 containers loaded with 10 million pounds of supplies, to McMurdo Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cutter refueled and 11 days later, the incinerator room burst into flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the crew contained the fire damage to the incinerator housing, the water used to cool the nearby exhaust pipe flowed into several electrical systems and the insulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials vowed to have the repairs completed before next year\u2019s 11,200-mile journey to the bottom of the world. When the Polar Star isn\u2019t at sea for Operation Deep Freeze, it\u2019s in dry dock, undergoing repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, there have been a number of engineering casualties and other problems in recent years. We\u2019re talking about a 43-year-old ship,\u201d said Coast Guard spokesman Senior Chief Public Affairs Specialist Nyx Cangemi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAge and the importance of the mission, Operation Deep Freeze, mean that the Polar Star spends much of its time away from McMurdo Station getting repaired.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A contractor and a Polar Star crew member assess progress being made reassembling the cutter\u2019s port side hub while the cutter undergoes extensive repairs at a dry dock facility in Vallejo, California, on Oct. 3, 2018. When not at sea, the aging Polar Star is mostly in dry dock. (Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew S. Masaschi\/Coast Guard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cangemi told Navy Times that the only problem for the crew is that they can\u2019t burn their trash on their way home from a port call in New Zealand. He praised the \u201ctime and the dedication they show to keep that ship going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While sailing to Antarctica, the crew fixed one of the electrical systems that began to smoke, damaging a switchboard. Two of the cutter\u2019s evaporators that make drinking water failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A leak also sprang from the shaft that drives one of the ship\u2019s screws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After parts arrived during a port call in Wellington, New Zealand, the crew fixed the electrical wires and the evaporator system but they couldn\u2019t resume icebreaking operations until scuba divers braved the frigid water to fix a seal around the shaft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hyperbaric chamber <\/a>loaned to the Coasties by the U.S. Navy allowed them to make the emergency repairs and inspect the hull at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While breaking ice, all power in the ship cut off and the crew had to spend nine hours shutting down the power plant and rebooting the electrical system to mend that, officials added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the crew couldn\u2019t repair the ship, it might\u2019ve become an international embarrassment. Although the Coast Guard also maintains a medium breaker, Healy<\/a>, for North Pole patrols, the United States has no self-rescue capabilities for Antarctic ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another nation, maybe a rival such as Russia, would have to rescue the Coast Guard crew. Moscow boasts a fleet of at least 40 icebreakers and plans to add even larger vessels to the frozen flotilla<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t