FRIDAY FOTO (February 19, 2021)

The One and Only.

(U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham) CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE IMAGE.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) transits south in the Bering Strait early on January 19, 2021. The 45-year-old heavy icebreaker is underway to project power and support national security objectives throughout Alaskan waters and into the Arctic — including along the Maritime Boundary Line between the United States and Russia.

The Polar Star arrived in Juneau, Alaska on February 12, for a logistics stop near the end of their months-long Arctic deployment conducting scientific research and protecting the nation’s maritime sovereignty and security throughout the polar region, according to SEAPOWER magazine.

In addition to Polar Star’s strategic national security objectives, the nation’s sole heavy icebreaker sailed north with scientists and researchers aboard to work in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), University of Washington, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to gather data and lessen the void of information from the region and better understand how to operate year-round in Arctic waters.