Under a Memorandum of agreement the United States Coast Guard has provided ice breaking support to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). In the 2004 - 2005 Austral summer, two rather extraordinary circumstances combined: 1) The extent of fast ice in McMurdo Sound exceeded 100 nautical miles - more than double the extent ever seen before, and 2) One of the two Coast Guard vessels able to break a channel to USAP's McMurdo Station was not able to sail due to mechanical difficulties. The Coast Guard and the NSF Office of Polar Programs determined that if only one icebreaker were used, the risk to the USAP would be too great. A world-wide search for an available icebreaker was conducted. This search resulted in the charter of the Russian icebreaker, KRASIN. The KRASIN is a very capable icebreaker and the largest conventionally powered icebreaker in the Russian fleet.
