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The US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, with 75,000 horsepower and its 13,500-ton weight, is guided by its crew to break through Antarctic ice enroute to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, 15 January 2017. The ship, which was designed more than 40 years ago, remains the world’s most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker. The crew of the US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star conducts their yearly deployment to Antarctica as part of the US military’s Operation Deep Freeze 2017. The Cutter Polar Star is the US Coast Guard’s only operational heavy icebreaker capable of conducting Antarctic ice operations, and is an integral part of the yearly resupply of the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station. Photo courtesy of US Coast Guard/ Chief Petty Officer David Mosley