I first pressed a boot print into the Svalbard snow four years ago, as I prepared to board the Norwegian icebreaker Kronprins Haakon -- a shiny new vessel back then -- along with three dozen scientists and engineers.
Stuck in a thick field of floating ice off the coast of Antarctica earlier this month, the Coast Guard's flagship icebreaker, the Polar Star, was deployed to rescue the ship.
The vessel, carrying a team of 101 members, will work with another icebreaker Xuelong, which set sail on Nov. 5 with 154 members on board for the polar expedition.
In the 1950s, people from the British business community, including Jack Perry, broke through the blockade and started trading with China. They are hailed as the " icebreakers."
Japan and South Korea own powerful icebreakers, which allow them to conduct their own exploratory ventures and support those by other states and organisations.