Coast Guard icebreaker Healy headed to Alaska for 3 Arctic research missions

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420-foot icebreaker homeported successful Seattle, breaks crystal successful support of technological investigation successful nan Arctic Ocean during a 2006 cruise. (From U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy, nan largest U.S. icebreaker, is connected its measurement to Alaska for nan first of 3 Arctic technological missions planned complete nan coming months.

The Healy departed connected Wednesday from Seattle, its location port, nan Coast Guard said. Its first ngo will bring scientists to nan Beaufort Sea to work underwater moorings, devices installed to cod accusation astir oceanic conditions. Scientists connected nan ngo will besides study nan currents betwixt nan Bering Sea and nan Canadian Beaufort Sea. Other activity to beryllium conducted includes monitoring of Arctic algal blooms, nan Coast Guard said.

In its 2nd mission, nan Healy is scheduled to transportation early profession scientists connected a cruise done nan Northwest Passage to Greenland. That ngo is intended to train scientists in Arctic investigation practices and is modeled aft a akin ngo conducted past twelvemonth connected the Sikuliaq, a investigation alloy owned by nan National Science Foundation and operated by nan University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The Healy’s 3rd scheduled ngo is to stitchery information for the Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigations Program, an world technological programme established successful 2007. That activity will cod high-resolution information crossed nan Arctic basin, nan Coast Guard said.

The investigation alloy Sikuliaq, owned by nan National Science Foundation and operated by nan University of Alaska Fairbanks, is docked successful Seward connected nan evening of July 4, 2022. The Sikuliaq’s 2024 investigation cruises are already underway. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

“We are excited to support 3 important missions successful nan bluish precocious latitudes,” Coast Guard Capt. Michele Schallip, nan Healy’s commanding officer, said successful a statement. “Two of these missions are portion of long-standing information postulation projects, aimed astatine enhancing our knowing of a changing Arctic. The 3rd ngo is dedicated to inspiring early main investigators who will proceed this important work.”

At a clip erstwhile technological liking successful nan Arctic Ocean is intensifying, nan Healy “substantially enhances” U.S. Arctic investigation capacity, she said. “Healy’s unit person been unwavering successful their efforts during our in-port attraction period, ensuring nan cutter is fresh to meet nan demands of these missions,” she said.

The Healy, which is designed to break done crystal up to 4.5 feet thick, is 1 of only 2 operating polar-class icebreakers owned by nan Coast Guard. While nan Healy mostly useful successful nan Arctic during nan summertime and autumn supporting technological investigation and different purposes, nan Coast Guard’s different polar icebreaker, nan Polar Star, is usually assigned to nan Antarctic.

The Healy’s cruises are among several scheduled for investigation vessels in Alaska and Arctic waters successful coming months.

The Seward-based Sikuliaq, which completed immoderate West Coast missions successful nan spring, has already been deployed successful nan Gulf of Alaska to proceed semipermanent investigation there. The Sikuliaq has Alaska investigation cruises scheduled through September.

The Sikuliaq, which is named for nan Inupiaq word meaning “young ice,” is designed to sail done comparatively bladed ice.

Other ships are besides scheduled to behaviour investigation cruises to cod accusation astir food stocks, whales, seabed features and oversea ice, among different subjects, according to the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee.