Luxury cruise ship rescued from Antarctic ice by US Coast Guard

A luxury cruise ship became trapped in thick pack ice near Antarctica last week and was freed following a rescue operation by the United States Coast Guard, according to a report by news website People.

The Antarctica-bound cruise ship Scenic Eclipse II was sailing through the Ross Sea when it got stuck in a sheet of ice on Saturday, Jan. 17. Video footage obtained by People shows the Coast Guard’s icebreaker USCGC Polar Star cutting through the ice as it approached the immobilised vessel.

The Australian-owned Scenic Eclipse II, operated by Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours, was seen stranded in the distance as the Polar Star advanced. The cruise ship can accommodate up to 228 passengers and 176 crew members.

In the footage, large cracks form in the ice as the Polar Star breaks through, creating a navigable channel. The Coast Guard vessel then circles the cruise ship, ripping through the surrounding ice. As the ice gives way, the Scenic Eclipse II begins to move backward and forward before finally freeing itself. The Polar Star subsequently creates a clear path of open water, allowing the cruise ship to follow the icebreaker out of harm’s way.

A press release issued on Jan. 23 stated that the US Coast Guard helped “free and escort” the cruise ship that was “trapped in pack ice.”

“The Australian-owned cruise ship Scenic Eclipse II contacted Polar Star at approximately 11 pm, local time Friday after becoming beset in pack ice roughly eight nautical miles from McMurdo Sound,” the release said. “Polar Star’s crew conducted two close passes to break the vessel free, then escorted it approximately four nautical miles to open water.”

According to a post shared by the US Coast Guard Pacific Area on Instagram, the rescue coincided with the Polar Star’s 50th birthday. The vessel was commissioned on Jan. 17, 1976.

The Polar Star was en route to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze 2026, an annual mission that sees the icebreaker travel through the Ross Sea to resupply U.S. Antarctic stations in support of the Science Foundation, which leads the United States Antarctic Program.

The Coast Guard described the Polar Star as the “most powerful ship in the US Coast Guard” and the United States’ “only heavy icebreaker.” The release also noted that it is the “only US vessel capable of breaking a navigable channel through the ice to reach McMurdo Station, the largest Antarctic station and the logistics hub of the US Antarctic Program.”

The Polar Star departed for its months-long mission on Nov. 20 from its homeport in Seattle.

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