NORFOLK, Va. – The U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command chartered heavy lift container ship MV Ocean Giant concluded its two-day retrograde offload in Naval Station Norfolk, Aug. 12. The vessel’s offload was part of MSC’s annual Operation Pacer Goose resupply mission to Pituffik Space Base — formerly known as Thule Air Force Base — in Greenland.
Operation Pacer Goose, now in its 71st year, occurs every year during the summer months of July and August; its mission is twofold — first, to re-supply the base with life sustaining supplies for the next 365 days and second, to remove any waste materials and non-reparable equipment from the base.
“This mission is a critical one because of the amount of sustainment material Ocean Giant provides to this remote location, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle,” Marine Transportation Specialist Isai Vazquez said.
Due to environmental factors and based on historic ice patterns, the month of July remains the best time of the year for Ocean Giant to resupply Pituffik Space Base; providing that, the heavy lift container ship receives escort support to and from the base. This year, Ice Class Tanker MT Stena Polaris and Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker Terry Fox provided escort support.
According to MV Ocean Giant’s Ship Master Capt. William B. Sullivan, the escort support typically commences and ends in between Nuuk Greenland and Disko Island, where sea ice conditions tend to persist, thus, requiring icebreaker escort to ensure safe transit.
“During this summer season, sea ice persisted across Baffin Bay, located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, making the escort operation more critical than in year’s past," Sullivan said. “It was vital that both the tanker and Ocean Giant completed their resupply missions in July,” — after the bay ice had melted and before the bay froze over again in the fall.
Under Operation Pacer Goose, 18 contract mariners, or CONMARS, assigned to Ocean Giant, along with employees from Norfolk’s Defense Logistics Agency , worked around the clock for four straight days in July to meet the ship’s deadline of loading 98 containers of critical cargo and supplies, weighing approximately 440 tons.
Ocean Giant is no stranger to Pituffik Space Base; this was the vessel’s fourth resupply mission, Sullivan said.
“In addition to her Polar waters experienced crew, she embarked experienced Ice Navigator Captain Duke Snider," he continued. "Ice navigators are highly experienced in operating vessels in ice and provide invaluable guidance and assistance to the ship’s regular crew.”
Sullivan said he was very proud of the work performed by his contract mariners. “This mission required a real team effort, and I could not have picked a better team.” CONMARS aboard ships like Ocean Giant have provided key support in supplying Pituffik Space Base since 1952.
Originally created in secret, the Pituffik Space Base served as a refueling base for strategic bombers during the Cold War. Today, the base of 1,100 Air Force, Coast Guard and multinational personnel serve as a detection and traction station for objects travelling over the Arctic Circle.
MSC first began supporting the resupply mission in the 1960s. This is DLA’s 26th year.
