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Icebreaker deploys on Arctic mapping mission

The Coast Guard icebreaker Healy left Seattle on Monday for a nearly month-long deployment to map a portion of the Arctic Ocean floor.

The movement coincides with an increase in activity in the region from neighboring Russia and Canada, although Coast Guard officials say the deployment is unrelated to the current power play.

On Aug. 2, a Russia mini-sub planted a flag in the Arctic seabed just below the North Pole to claim sovereignty over the region and its natural resources, which include mineral and oil deposits. Critics say the move was largely symbolic and has no legal authority.

Canada began a 10-day military operation Tuesday in the Arctic, a joint Canadian forces exercise that Canadian officers are calling a “sovereignty operation.”

“Canadian forces operations in Canada’s north are an important dimension toward ensuring the protection of Canadian sovereignty,” Lt. Gen. Marc Dumais said in an announcement Tuesday.

Coast Guard officials said the current Healy deployment has been planned for the past two years.

Lt. John Oney, a public affairs spokesman for Pacific Area Command, said the mission supports the research of Larry Mayer, director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire.

“This is not a response to the activity,” Oney said. “Coast Guard icebreakers are research platforms.”

None of the service’s polar icebreakers are armed. By international treaty, the Coast Guard icebreakers Polar Sea and Polar Star, which operate in Antarctica, cannot carry arms. The Healy deploys primarily to the Arctic, but it does not carry weapons other than firearms used for polar bear watches.

The deployment comes as the Coast Guard marks the first anniversary of the deaths of two Healy crewmembers. Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Steven Duque died Aug. 17, 2006, while conducting a dive training evolution roughly 500 nautical miles north of Barrow, Alaska.

The current deployment will keep the ship at sea as the Coast Guard prepares to commemorate the event by dedicating a memorial Aug. 17 at Integrated Support Command, Seattle.

Oney said some Healy crew members stayed behind from the deployment to attend the ceremony, which will be closed to the public and the media.