- Joined
- Feb 24, 2017
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- 1,291
It isn't news to anyone around here, and they're finally approved money for a replacement, but the current state of the Coast Guard's last ice breaker is dire. The LA Times wrote up their cruise from last winter, and the list of mishaps, breakdowns and equipment failures is shameful.
https://www.military.com/daily-news...l-neglected-icebreaker-its-falling-apart.html
The Polar Star suffered ship-wide power outages twice over the next 11 days. Steel bars meant to stabilize propeller shafts broke so many times that engineers ran out of the 8-inch bolts needed to repair them. (South Pole station) McMurdo sent four more bolts in a helicopter, which set down on the ice because the ship's flight deck was no longer certified for landings. A crane lowered Jopling in a "man basket" to walk out and retrieve them.
On Jan. 24, the Polar Star finally docked at McMurdo. That night, in light of the Coast Guard's continued lack of pay, scientists passed the hat for a $1,500 bar tab at the station's three watering holes.
On Jan. 24, the Polar Star finally docked at McMurdo. That night, in light of the Coast Guard's continued lack of pay, scientists passed the hat for a $1,500 bar tab at the station's three watering holes.
https://www.military.com/daily-news...l-neglected-icebreaker-its-falling-apart.html