43 years old and often in deep trouble for lack of spare parts to repair aging equipment. Supply types have had to scour eBay and other sites to get things to keep her going.
This is the story of her once-yearly trip from Seattle to Antarctica.
While Russia will soon have more than 50 icebreakers, the fire-engine-red ship lumbers on as a Cold War relic.
I love this part:
A petty officer who used a surfboard repair kit to fix a generator, saving the ship from encroaching ice, received an award from the Coast Guard commandant.
The full story is @ Meet the neglected 43-year-old stepchild of the U.S. military-industrial complex
