NAPLES, Italy (USTCNS) --- From one of the warmest places on earth, to the coldest, the U.S. Navy strategic tanker MV Lawrence H. Gianella is carrying fuel from Greece to Antarctica.

The cargo will be off-loaded at the McMurdo Antarctic Station, under the administration of the U.S. National Science Foundation, or NSF, as part of a scheduled resupply operation called "Deep Freeze."

The giant tanker, under contract to Military Sealift Command, is carrying more than 226,000 barrels of aviation fuel on a 9,000 mile odyssey which will take it through the Suez Canal to Australia, and then onto the freezing waters of the Antarctic ocean.

Gianella loaded fuel at the Greek port of St. Theodore in mid-December.

"The ship is 'ice strengthened' and is well suited to perform this mission," said MSC Europe marine transportation specialist Dennis Debraggio.

Gianella is scheduled for a stop in Fremantle, Australia, before continuing its journey to the white continent. Close to the ice shelf, the tanker will rendezvous with the MV Green Wave, another MSC-contracted ship, carrying other supplies for the station, and the U.S. Coast Guard's icebreaker the USCG Polar Star.

Green Wave is a combination container/breakbulk dry goods cargo ship enroute from the West Coast of the United States. The ships are scheduled to off-load at the McMurdo harbor at the end of January.

Operation Deep Freeze refers to the operations conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Air Force, Military Sealift Command and the New York Air National Guard to provide operational and logistic support to the United States Antarctic program.

McMurdo Station is Antarctica's largest 'community,' located on the southern end of Ross Island, just off the coast of mainland Antarctica at 78 degrees south latitude, 168 degrees east longitude. According to the NSF, it is the southernmost land mass accessible by ship.

During the southern hemisphere's summer months, the population of the station swells to more than 1,000, requiring more supplies and fuel. Normally, there are about 250 personnel assigned during the winter months, according to the NSF.

MV Lawrence H. Gianella is one of MSC's 13 common user tankers and is part of the 27 ships in the Sealift Program Office. The ship is 615 ft. in length and displaces more than 39,000 tons. (FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND - EUROPE PUBLIC AFFAIRS).