One of America's two icebreaker ships is falling apart

This article has been jointly published by NBCNews.com and InsideClimate News, a nonprofit, independent news outlet that covers climate, energy and the environment.

The U.S. military's only heavy-duty icebreaker suffered more equipment breakdowns during its mission to Antarctica this season, adding urgency to the calls for Congress to approve long-delayed funding to replace the aging polar fleet.

As the icebreaker Polar Star led a supply mission to a research station in early January, its crew faced power outages that forced it to shut down the ship's power plant and reboot the electrical system. Leaks forced the Coast Guard to send divers into the icy water to repair the seal around the propeller shaft. And one of two systems that provide drinking water for the crew also failed, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

In its previous trip to Antarctica, the crew scrambled to patch a leak in the engine room that at one point was pouring 20 gallons a minute into the compartment.

"If a catastrophic event, such as getting stuck in the ice, were to happen to the Healy in the Arctic or to the Polar Star near Antarctica, the U.S. Coast Guard is left without a self-rescue capability," the Coast Guard said. The Healy, a less powerful ship, and the Polar Star are the military's only icebreakers, and the Polar Star is 12 years past the end of its life expectancy.

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