Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District

World's most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker arrives in Juneau

JUNEAU, Alaska - The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, the world’s most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker, maneuvers in Gastineau Channel as the crew prepares mooring lines which will secure the cutter to the South Franklin Pier Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.  

The Polar Sea has made 18 voyages to the Arctic Ocean and the cutter's awards include six Coast Guard Unit Commendations, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy Arctic Service Medal, the Special Operations Medal and the Canadian Coast Guard Commissioner's Commendation.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn.

JUNEAU, Alaska - Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Abel, a boatswain's mate aboard the Seattle based 399-foot Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, plots a course of the cutter on a nautical map as it cruises through Gastineau Channel before mooring at the South Franklin Pier Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.  

Abel, a resident of Readfield, Wisc., who has been a crewmember aboard the Polar Sea for two and a half years recently received an Arctic Service Medal for the cutter's Arctic West Fall 2009 deployments.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn.

JUNEAU, Alaska - Master Chief Petty Officer Scott Krehmeier, an electrician's mate aboard the Seattle based 399-foot Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, follows a checklist as he prepares to shutdown the engines as the cutter comes to a stop while mooring lines are secured to the South Franklin Pier Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.  

The Polar Sea has a total of six diesel electric engines, three gas turbine engines and three shafts that give the cutter up to 75,000 horsepower.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn.

JUNEAU, Alaska - Crewmembers aboard the Seattle based 399-foot Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea pull on a mooring line to ensure the cutter is stationary as it becomes moored to the South Franklin Pier Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.   

The 399-foot Polar Sea is making a port call in Juneau before returning to its homeport in Seattle after completing a 101-day deployment, 60 which were above the Arctic Circle.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn.

JUNEAU, Alaska - Seaman Aaron Ellis, a crewmember aboard Seattle based 399-foot Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, is standing by to throw a heaving line that is connected to a mooring line which holds the cutter in place at the South Franklin Pier Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.  

The Polar Sea became the first American surface ship that sailed to the geographic North Pole on Aug. 22, 1994.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn.

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