Capt. Michael Davanzo and Capt. Matthew Walker shake hands after Davanzo relieved Walker of command of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, a 399-foot polar-class icebreaker homeported in Seattle, during a formal ceremony presided over by Vice Adm. Charles Ray, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, July 14, 2016.
Under Walker’s command the crew of the Polar Star, the nation’s only heavy icebreaker capable of operating in the thick Antarctic ice, rescued the 26-person crew of the fishing vessel Antarctic Chieftain, after the vessel was disabled and beset by ice.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.
Crew members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, a 399-foot polar-class icebreaker homeported in Seattle, align in formation during a change-of-command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Seattle, July 14, 2016.
Petty Officer 1st Class Kevin Oakes, an electrician’s mate, Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman and Seaman Manon Mullen were recognized in June by Adm. Paul Zukunft, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, for their quick thinking and ingenuity in critical repairs they made to the 40-year-old cutter during Operation Deep Freeze 2016.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.
Capt. Matthew Walker and Capt. Michael Davanzo inspect the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, a 399-foot polar-class icebreaker homeported in Seattle, as part of a change-of-command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Seattle, July 14, 2016.
The Polar Star is one of the largest ships in the Coast Guard and one of the world's most powerful non-nuclear icebreakers.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.
The seal of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, a 399-foot polar-class icebreaker homeported in Seattle, adorns a podium during a change-of-command ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, where Capt. Matthew Walker (center) was relieved by Capt. Michael Davanzo July 14, 2016.
Presently, the United States has one working heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, and one medium icebreaker, the Coast Guard Cutter Healy.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.
Capt. Michael Davanzo (left) addresses Capt. Matthew Walker (right) during his speech at the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star change-of-command ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, July 14, 2016.
As record amounts of ice melt open the resource-rich polar regions to increased vessel traffic, the Coast Guard’s role in safeguarding maritime transit and national security is left on shoulders of the crews of the nation’s only two icebreakers, the Polar Star and the Coast Guard Cutter Healy.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.