Mare Island Dry Docks secures $5.1m USCG Polar Star contract

Mare Island Dry Docks has received a contract from the US Coast Guard (USCG) to refurbish the Polar Star icebreaker.

As part of the $5.1m contract, work on the icebreaker will start in mid-August 2014. The shipyard will be responsible to dry dock the ship and carry out repairs of the icebreaker.

Coast Guard Subcommittee Ranking Member Congressman John Garamendi said: "As the polar ice cap in the Arctic continues to recede further opening the region to global shipping traffic and other economic development, the POLAR STAR will be a key Coast Guard asset protecting American interests and ensuring safe and reliable maritime commerce."

Commissioned in January 1976, the 399ft polar class icebreaker boasts maximum speed of 18k, while has a capacity to accommodate 140 crewmembers.

With its engines delivering 75,000 horsepower, the Polar Star is claimed to have 5.5 times more horsepower than Chinese rescue vessel Xue Long.

The Polar Star icebreaker is also capable of continuously breaking 6ft of ice at a speed of 3k, while it can also smash 21ft of ice backing and ramming.

As part of a mission in Antarctica to rescue the icebound Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalskiy, the Polar Star has broken through 12 miles of ice up to 10ft in thickness on a major shipping channel.

Image: US Coast Guard’s (USCG) Polar Star icebreaker. Photo: Courtesy of US Coast Guard.