Seattle-Based Icebreaker Reaches North Pole A 2nd Time

SEATTLE — Scientists aboard a Seattle-based U.S. Coast Guard cutter reached the North Pole Friday, marking just the second time for an American vessel to do so unaccompanied, after traversing the frozen reaches of the Arctic Ocean.

Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420-foot icebreaker and the fleet's largest ship, left Seattle in July to embark on a monthslong research mission with nearly three dozen scientists and 100 active duty crewmembers. Healy launched in 1997 and was commissioned in 1999. According to the Coast Guard, the ship can maintain three knots while breaking through 4.5 feet of ice.

Friday's arrival marks the vessel's third trip to the North Pole and its second unaccompanied.

"The crew of the Healy is proud to reach the North Pole," said Capt. Kenneth Boda, Healy's commanding officer. "This rare opportunity is a highlight of our Coast Guard careers. We are honored to demonstrate Arctic operational capability and facilitate the study of this strategically important and rapidly changing region."

According to the Coast Guard, the first leg of the trip in July and August took the Healy through the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, where crews used underwater sensors, sea gliders and buoys to study hydrodynamics in the Arctic. During that time, the cutter also patrolled the U.S. border with Russia.

While heading toward the North Pole, the team of researchers lent their efforts to an international collaboration to gather data on the Arctic.

"We have little information from the ocean and seafloor at the top of the world so what we collect here is very valuable," said Carin Ashjian, a scientist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "Our joint efforts with the Healy crew are producing important science results."