USCGC POLAR STAR departs for Operation Deepfreeze, Nov. 16, 2023. US Coast Guard photo.
Below is a news release from Coast Guard news.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star departs Seattle to begin Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica
SEATTLE – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) and crew departed Seattle, Wednesday, and are scheduled to transit to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze.
Operation Deep Freeze (ODF) is an annual joint military mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). This marks the 27th year for the Polar Star to render support.
Each year, the Polar Star crew breaks a navigable channel through ice, allowing fuel and supply ships to reach McMurdo Station, which is the largest Antarctic station and the logistics hub of the USAP.
“Operation Deep Freeze is a unique and important mission that Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star undertakes each year,” said Capt. Keith Ropella, Polar Star’s commanding officer. “This mission requires year-round effort from the crew to prepare this 47-year-old cutter for the 20,000 nautical mile round trip and extreme environmental conditions we will face. We have an incredible and dedicated team; I couldn’t be more excited or more proud to make this journey with them.”
The U.S. Coast Guard is recapitalizing its polar icebreaker fleet to ensure continued access to the polar regions and to protect the country’s economic, environmental, and national security interests. Each year, the crew is asked to put forth an immense amount of time and effort to prepare the cutter for their annual deployment in support of ODF. The Polar Star completed the third of five planned phases of the service life extension project (SLEP), costing $15.6 million over a 132-day maintenance period.
“The U.S. Coast Guard is pleased to continue partnering with the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Antarctic Program to enable a durable U.S. presence on Antarctica and across the Southern Ocean,” said Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, Pacific Area commander. “Our commitment to the Antarctic region is unwavering, and we have been pleased to increase our maritime cooperation with like-minded members of the Antarctic Treaty, as well as investing in new technologies and vessels to ensure our presence is enduring.”
Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica, provides Department of Defense support to the NSF and the USAP through ODF. Every year, a joint and total force team works together to complete a successful ODF season. Active, Guard, Reserve service members from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy work together to forge a strong JTF-SFA that continues the proud tradition of U.S. military support to the USAP. The U.S. Coast Guard provides direct logistical support to the NSF and maintains a regional presence that preserves Antarctica as a scientific refuge.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
FYI, anyone thinking and/or ever thought about the installation of a Small Nuclear Reactor on the PSC! Forget it! NuScale SNR of Utah pulled the plug on its construction, because of lack of interest and funding for the SNR concept and it implantation on 11 November 2023…
The Coast Guard looked at nuclear for icebreakers ages ago. Certainly, much has changed, but if anything, enthusiasm for nuclear power has dropped. At the time it was decided the Coast Guard would not have a sufficient population of nuclear power engineers to make the program supportable. It is certainly not impossible but costs of construction and disposal work against it as does fact that nuclear powered ships are frequently not welcomed for port calls.
Now that it appears that the first Polar Security Cutter won’t be in service until the 2030’s, are there any plans for what to do if the 47-year-old Polar Star suffers a permanent breakdown before then? For years, we’ve been hearing that the Coast Guard plans to purchase a commercial icebreaker, but the Aiviq being the only commercial icebreaker available that meets the “made in USA” requirements, and I don’t think the Aiviq is classified as a heavy icebreaker (it’s “ice class ABS A3,” whatever that means), and I doubt that it has the necessary range to reach Antarctica, either.
(Replying to my own post!) On second thought, apparently the Aiviq is suitable for Antarctic missions, as it has already done so. Wikipedia says, “After years of lay-up, Aiviq was chartered by Australian Antarctic Division to support Davis Station refueling and other Antarctic missions during the 2021–2022 season.”
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiviq#Later_career
This depends on how far in the Antarctic you go. Our station is much closer to the pole than theirs.
ABS’s old ice class A3 is roughly equivalent to Polar Class (PC) 3 in the new international classification system. This puts it “one step below” the future PSCs which will be rated PC 2 (smaller number indicates higher ice class).
I’d classify Aiviq as a medium icebreaker in terms of size, power and capability. However, there’s no widely-agreed system to rank icebreakers as light/medium/heavy; every operator seems to have their own system based on power, displacement, maximum ice thickness the ship can break, etc.