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American Tern, Gianella deliver in Deep Freeze '08
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The M/V American Tern and ice-strengthened tanker USNS Lawrence H. Gianella in February completed the annual re-supply mission to the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station in Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze 2008.
The American Tern is operated by APL Maritime Limited and the USNS Gianella is operated by Ocean Ships Inc. Both ships are manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers. The Gianella arrived at McMurdo's ice pier Jan. 28 and delivered nearly 6 million gallons of fuel to power the station's generators, vehicles, helicopters and research boats. The Gianella departed Feb. 3. The American Tern arrived Feb. 8, and 12 million pounds of equipment and supplies were offloaded for the station's 1,500 researchers and support personnel. "Without the cargo delivered by our ships each year, McMurdo would not be able to function," said Rick Appling of Military Sealift Command's Sealift Logistics Command Pacific. MSC vessels deliver more than 70 percent of the dry cargo and 100 percent of fuel that is taken to the continent each year. Equally important is the backhaul cargo from Antarctica. This year, nearly 5 million pounds of cargo, ranging from ice core samples to the waste that McMurdo Station has accumulated over the past year, were loaded onto American Tern before it departed. Additionally, fuel was successfully transferred to the Swedish icebreaker Oden, which arrived in the area in advance of the two MSC ships and broke a channel through about 18 miles of ice that blocked the ships' access to McMurdo. |
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