Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the ...

The U.S. Coast Guard held an event at their base in Seattle for the Polar fleet that was all docked together in a rare event.

The need for construction of specialized ships to clear the path in the ice appeared in the mid-18th century. The first icebreaker was a wheeled steamer that cleared ice in the harbor of Philadelphia.