Coast Guard Ice Breaker Underway to Antartica

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea (WAGB-11) is underway from Coast Guard base at Pier 36 in Seattle. The cutter is deploying for Operation Deep Freeze 2003. Its primary mission is to assist the National Science Foundation with a variety of scientific research and escort resupply vessels to U.S. Station McMurdo. The six month deployment will take the cutter to Hawaii, Australia and Japan. The cutter is scheduled to return in late April.