Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star steams under the aurora borealis during its current Arctic deployment patrolling the maritime boundary with Russia. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star steams under the aurora borealis during its current Arctic deployment patrolling the maritime boundary with Russia. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)

Coast Guard icebreaker continues Arctic training, security operations

The crew is honing the trade of operating in the harshest waters on earth.

The Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker Polar Star continued operations in the Bering Sea along the maritime boundary with Russia, working closely with the Russian Border Guard, as part of its current deployment, the Coast Guard announced.

The exercise is a routine one, the Coast Guard said in a news release, intended to maintain security and order along the 1,700-mile long boundary line.

“The United States Coast Guard works diligently to maintain a unique cooperative relationship with the Russian Border Guard in an effort to enhance the protection of shared interests in and around the Arctic region,” said Capt. Jason Brennell, chief of enforcement for the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District, in the news release. “The coordinated communications exercises on the high seas these past weeks with Polar Star demonstrate a recognition of the importance of that relationship.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star crewmembers participate in ice rescue training in the Bering Strait on Jan. 28, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star crewmembers participate in ice rescue training in the Bering Strait on Jan. 28, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)

The icebreaker patrolled in concert with a Border Guard An-26 medium aircraft. The Coast Guard and Border Guard have a number of possible situations that call for joint operations, according to the Coast Guard, including search and rescue operations, pollution response and fisheries enforcement.

“The purpose of combined operations and communications exercises are to enforce rules and regulations, and protect the sovereign rights and economies of both countries,” the news release said. “The routine coordination maintains a strong working relationship and improves joint response capabilities for pollution, law enforcement, and search and rescue cases along our shared maritime border.”

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star crewmembers participate in ice rescue training in the Bering Strait on Jan. 28, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star crewmembers participate in ice rescue training in the Bering Strait on Jan. 28, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)

The cutter USCGC Munro carried out a similar patrol with the Border Guard Purga-class patrol ship Kamchatka in July 2020, the news release said.

While in the ice, the crew of the Polar Star took advantage of the conditions to qualify as part of the icebreaker’s ice rescue team. Members of the ice rescue team survey and assess ice conditions to ensure the safety of crew and scientists working on the ice.

The Polar Star is bound for Juneau for a resupply stop and is expected to arrive within the next several weeks.

• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at (757) 621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of March 16

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, March 19, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, March 18, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 17, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) walks through a hallway of protesters with his wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, before his annual address to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Sullivan generates warmth and heat with energy filled speech to Alaska Legislature

Senator takes barrage of friendly and confrontational questions from lawmakers about Trump’s agenda.

Research biologists pause among the wetlands of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, with the Brooks Range in the background. The Trump administration is taking steps to offer the entire coastal plain for oil and gas leasing, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Thursday. (Lisa Hupp/USFWS)
Interior secretary announces plans to advance new Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil leasing

Follow-ups to Trump executive orders will mean leasing across ANWR, wider NPR development.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Storis near Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 10, 2024. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
Storis icebreaker expected to make ceremonial visit to Juneau this summer, officials say

Coast Guard icebreaker set to be homeported locally will still need further upgrades for deployment.

The Columbia state ferry docks at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal on March 4. (Laurie Craig / For the Juneau Empire)
Alaska Marine Highway’s long-range plan met with skepticism and concerns

Residents decry loss of service, Murkowski says “once-in-a-generation” funding opportunity in peril.

Most Read