UNITED STATES COAST GUARDfor Great lakes duty, and another is ac- breaking ice in the winter months. The three knots. The two 13,000-ton Polar ? tted with a new propulsion plant, and tually a research ship. The Great Lakes 3,500-ton, 240-ft. Mackinaw is based at class ice breakers are the most power- supported Operation Deep Freeze in the icebreaker, USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB Cheboygan, Michigan, and can break ice ful in the world, but the Coast guard has Antarctic during the 2013-2014 season. 30), is used for servicing aids to naviga- up to three feet deep. only been able to keep one operational in USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) was ac-tion on a seasonal basis. She can con- The 17,000-ton Healy is an ice capable recent year. USCGC Polar Star (WAGB- tive until 2010, and scheduled to be de-duct SAR and law enforcement opera- research ship and a medium duty ice- 10) was placed in a caretaker status in commissioned after the return of Polar tions, and respond to oil spills, as well as breaker able to break ice 4.5 ft. thick at 2006, but has now been overhauled, re- Star to service. “The 38-year-old Polar Star, the world’s most powerful non-nuclear heavy icebreaker, has returned to active service and recently completed opera-tions in the Antarctic in support of U.S. national security interests,” said Papp. “And we have begun the process of de-veloping and analyzing the requirements to design the nation’s next heavy ice-breaker.”A new icebreaker construction pro-gram is needed. The Coast Guard is in the preliminary phase of a new, heavy polar icebreaker acquisition project. But until a replacement is available the Coast Guard may opt to overhaul Polar Sea and keep her in service.The “black hull” workhorses are the unglamorous buoy tenders and other auxiliaries that tend aids to navigation, conduct law enforcement, pollution con-trol, and search and rescue missions. The Coast Guard has 16 multi-mission 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tenders (WAGLs). The lead ship, US-CGC Juniper (WLB 201) entered service in 1996. The 225s displace about 2,000 Below: USCG Cutter Sapelo and the Royal Netherlands Navy Offshore Patrol Ves-sel HNLMS Holland search Caribbean Sea waters for bales of contraband jettisoned by Dominican drug smug-glers.30 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MARCH 2014MR #3 (26-31).indd 30 MR #3 (26-31).indd 30 3/4/2014 10:21:45 AM3/4/2014 10:21:45 AM