Ocean Giant News

The 157 crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) arrived at McMurdo Station in Antarctica Monday following an 86-day transit from the United States and the cutter’s departure from its Seattle homeport Nov. 13.This deployment marks the Polar Star’s 25th journey to Antarctica supporting Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations in support of the National Science Foundation, lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program.Each year…

It seems the U.S. cannot do enough to fast-track the construction of its new icebreaking fleet, as the USCG announce last night that the 150-member crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star fought a fire at approximately 9 p.m. PST Feb. 10 that broke out in the ship's incinerator room about 650 miles north of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.After initial response efforts using four fire extinguishers failed, fire crews spent almost two hours extinguishing the fire. Fire damage was contained inside the incinerator housing…

The 150 crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrived Thursday in Antarctica along with a resupply vessel during Operation Deep Freeze – a joint military service mission to resupply U.S. interests in Antarctica.Homeported in Seattle, the 42-year-old Coast Guard cutter is the United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, and the crew is making their sixth deployment in as many years to directly support the resupply of McMurdo Station – the United States’ main…

America’s aging, sole remaining heavy icebreaker suffered several engineering challenges, including flooding and engine failure, on its way to completing a recent mission in the Antarctic, highlighting the U.S.’ need for new polar icebreakers. The 1970s-era U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is called upon each year to aid the delivery of fuel and supplies for National Science Foundation research stations in Antarctica, carving a navigable path through the Ross Sea where seasonal and multi-year ice is sometimes as much as 10 feet thick.

Crowley Maritime awarded six U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) cadets with Thomas B. Crowley Memorial Scholarships during  the Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards luncheon in Newark, N.J. Crowley’s Jenny Terpenning, supervisor, marine recruiting, presented the scholarships to Midshipmen (MIDN) Stacee Glass, Connor Sexton, John Terselic, Tanner Evans, Dylan Rabbitt, and Chandler Chiappe, all of whom were chosen based on their academic performance, financial need and interest in pursuing a career at sea after graduation.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s polar icebreaker Cutter Polar Star has made a brief stop in a warmer climate, mooring in San Diego before returning to Seattle after a four and a half month-long deployment to the Antarctic in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2016. The Polar Star, a 399-foot cutter commissioned in 1976, is the nation’s only operational heavy icebreaker, and the most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker in the world. The cutter recently delivered necessary cargo to sustain the National Science Foundation managed U.S. Antarctic Program’s McMurdo and South Pole stations for the next year.

Crowley Maritime Corp. announced that 65 of its vessels were recently recognized for participation in the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) program, a computer-based voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea. The awards were given during the U.S. Coast Guard’s NAMEPA Safety at Sea Seminar dinner, an event designed to bring industry and government leaders together each year in Washington D.C. All 65 Crowley vessels were given a certificate of merit for participation, with eight company vessels receiving additional pennants for their continuous, long-term dedication to the program.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, is scheduled to return to Seattle after a 101-day Antarctic deployment Tuesday. Polar Star’s crew departed Seattle for Operation Deep Freeze 2015, the military resupply and logistical support mission for the U.S. Antarctic Program’s McMurdo Station. Coast Guardsmen aboard Polar Star escorted the cargo vessel Ocean Giant and fuel tanker Maersk Peary to McMurdo Station through ice ranging in thickness from 5 to 10 feet. These logistics allow scientific research to continue in the Antarctic.

Gigantic records are set by land, sea and air. For them to be set, modern high-tech solutions are needed that in the right combination make the impossible possible. For example, one insider calls gigantic ferry boats “cruise ships with car decks.” By that he is referring to their size and the comfort that size brings with it. The biggest ferry boat ever built was launched in South Korea in 2012. Going along with it was the German-made standard gearboxes that in size, performance and quality are far from just standard.

MSC ships underway in support of annual  Operation Deep Freeze Antarctica resupply mission. Military Sealift Command-chartered container ship MV Ocean Giant departed Port Hueneme, Calif., loaded with nearly seven million pounds of supplies such as frozen and dry food stores, building supplies, vehicles and electronic equipment and parts, Jan. 17. MSC-chartered tanker ship MT Maersk Peary departed the European area of operations in December, with over six million gallons of diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline.

The Allure of the Seas is the second and latest ship in the Oasis class. On 16 decks it has space for more than 5,400 passengers and 2,100 crew. A Palfinger PK 150002 marine crane is used for transporting and planting trees onboard the ocean giant. The American shipping company Royal Caribbean Cruises and the South Korean STX Group signed the contract for the construction of the sister ship to the Oasis of the Seas in 2007. The Allure of the Seas was officially handed over to Royal Caribbean Cruises last November. With a length of 1,184 ft it is the world’s biggest cruise vessel.

The Stralsund ship lift reportedly breaks all records, as nowhere in the world is there a lifting and lowering facility on a larger scale than this 754 x 115 ft. (230 m x 35 m) lift. Equally impressive is its power, which enables it to raise and lower a ship of up to 20,700 tons to a maximum of 36 ft. (11 m) without difficulty, the Maersk Valencia in December 1999, serving as an example. The bow of the oceangoing giant peers out of the 36 ft. (75 m) high shipyard bay, its steel hull follows: the Maersk Valencia, a 682 ft. (208 m) containership, edges slowly forward. On 432 wheels, a strange vehicle trundles along the rails like a steel centipede, at two meters a minute.