Fiji Sun, Thurs 1 March: The Suva City Council and 20 crew members of the ship, the United States of America Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, conducted a joint clean-up of the Suva foreshore, yesterday.
The Polar Star, the most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker made its first port of entry into Fiji waters on February 27 at Suva King’s Wharf.
The Polar Star’s Ensign Christopher Popiel said the group collected debris and trash that littered the popular picnic spot in Suva.
“This was a great opportunity to give back to Fiji and this was a great way of giving back to the community,” Ensign Popiel said.
“Crew members had sacrificed their liberty time and they are offering it to help out the community.
“We are here to pick up some heavy rubbish like debris and tyres.
“There are rubbish bins everywhere. The general public needs to place their rubbish in the bin,” he said.
He said the American Embassy had placed rubbish bins at Suva foreshore to ensure the beach maintained its new clean status.
“We want to work with the nearby community because it is their beach and they are the frequent users of this environment,” he said.
“The general public needs to take ownership of this beach because that is the only way we can be sure that this will stay clean once they take pride in maintaining its cleanliness,” he said.
The Polar Star leaves for Seattle tomorrow.
About the Polar Star and it’s crew
The Polar Star has 150 crew members on board consisting of personnel trained in navigation, engineering, welding, machinery repair, electronics, boat handling, firefighting, damage control, underwater diving, medicine, and nearly every other kind of special skill that could possibly be needed out at sea.
The non-nuclear ice-breaker has a variety of missions while operating in Polar regions. The icebreaker has recently been in Antarctica, where it established a channel through 15 miles (24.14 kilometres) of ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, sometimes up to eight feet in thickness.
Polar regions of Earth, also known as Earth’s frigid zones, are the regions of Earth surrounding its geographical poles (the North and South Poles). These regions are dominated by Earth’s polar ice caps, the northern resting on the Arctic Ocean and the southern on the continent of Antarctica.
