After delivery on 9 November 99 by Litton-Avondale Industries, HEALY underwent a period of fitting-out availability and propulsion system repairs. The ship departed New Orleans on 26 January 2000 to conduct machinery, hull and science suite testing. Initial warm water trials were completed in March. Ice trials were conducted from April to June in Baffin Bay in the eastern Arctic. HEALY performed well, with icebreaking performance exceeding design requirements of 3 kts through 4.5 ft. of ice. The maximum thickness of unbroken level ice encountered was 5.5 ft., which HEALY transited at a continuous speed of 2.6 kts. Ice ridges of 45 ft. were broken through in 3 rams. HEALY transited the Northwest Passage in July, and arrived at Seattle on 9 August. The ship was commissioned on 21 August. HEALY is now in Todd Shipyard undergoing warranty repairs. The ship is scheduled to depart in May 2001 for the eastern Arctic and its initial science mission.

POLAR SEA completed a "Reliability Improvement Project" yard availability in Todd Shipyards, Seattle and is conducting shakedown and training cruises. The ship will depart for the Antarctic and Operation Deep Freeze 2001 on 4 November 2000 and will return in early April 2001. POLAR SEA is scheduled for a two-month science mission in the western Arctic in July and August of 2001.

POLAR STAR completed the five-month Operation Deep Freeze Antarctic deployment and returned to Seattle in April 2000. The ship sailed for a western Arctic science cruise on 21 July and returned to Seattle on 21 September. POLAR STAR is scheduled to go into dockside availability for repairs from October 2000 to February 2001. The ship will then sail for the St. Lawrence Island Polynya Project (SLIP 2001), which is scheduled for March — April 2001. POLAR STAR will go into dry-dock during the period May — July 2001.

Science Mission Planning

The First planning meeting for HEALY's 2001 missions was held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) on 13 June. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Coast Guard and NSF. The initial schedule for HEALY involves a marine geology and geophysics project in the GAKKEL Ridge and a long range AUV development project north of Svaalbard.

The Coast Guard Pacific Area Office has added a position to its icebreaker Science Liaison staff to handle coordination of science logistics for HEALY cruises. The position has been filled with the hiring of Mr. Dave Forcucci, who comes to the Coast Guard from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory.