Why Should The US Be Rescuing Antarctic Eco-Tourists?

For some reason, we have our ONLY heavy ice breaker deployed in the southern hemisphere, far from the US primarily to rescue tourist from other countries.

As more eco-tourists, oil companies and ships travel to the Arctic particularly, the Coast Guard needs to be able to respond with equipment that is modern, functional and capable, Papp said.
The Polar Star was due to arrive in Commonwealth Bay on Sunday.

"I am exceptionally proud of my crew in their ability to respond to this mission," Capt. George Pellissier, commanding officer of the Polar Star, said in a statement. "I, too, am extremely pleased that both the Akademik Shokalskiy and the Xue Long have been able to work their way free of the ice. We're now looking forward to continuing on our primary mission of resupplying McMurdo Station."

That mission, "Operation Deep Freeze," is the Polar Star's first deployment since a three-year, $90 million overhaul. For more than 50 years, Coast Guard icebreaker crews have deployed to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze.