MSC Chartered Ship MV Ocean Giant Arrives in Port Hueneme for Operation Deep Freeze Off-Load

Photo By Sarah Cannon | Military Sealift Command-chartered container ship MV Ocean Giant has arrived Port Hueneme, Calif., and is conducting cargo offload, following its mission to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze (ODF) 2025. While in Port Hueneme, Ocean Giant will conduct cargo offload of retrograde materials—including station waste and recyclables, returned from Antarctica. Ocean Giant was in Antarctica as part of MSC’s annual resupply mission in support of the Joint Task Force Support for Antarctica mission to the NSF-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.  

UNITED STATES

03.13.2025

Story by Sarah Cannon 

Military Sealift Command Pacific

Military Sealift Command-chartered container ship MV Ocean Giant has arrived Port Hueneme, Calif., and is conducting cargo offload, following its mission to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze (ODF) 2025.
The stop in Port Hueneme marks the end of Ocean Giant’s support of ODF.

While in Port Hueneme, Ocean Giant will conduct cargo offload of retrograde materials—including station waste and recyclables, returned from Antarctica. Ocean Giant was in Antarctica as part of MSC’s annual resupply mission in support of the Joint Task Force Support for Antarctica mission to the NSF-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.

Ocean Giant’s support to ODF began in Port Hueneme in late December, with a loadout of 327 containers of dry cargo and a floating Marine Causeway System. After a brief stop in New Zealand, where the ship resupplied and took on additional containers of cargo, Ocean Giant traveled to McMurdo Station. Seabees from Navy Cargo Handling Battalions ONE and FIVE offloaded and installed the floating causeway, replacing the traditionally used ice-pier, deemed unusable this year. With the floating causeway in place, cargo operations were able to proceed.

In total, 380 pieces of cargo, which included containers filled with mechanical parts, vehicles, construction materials, office supplies and electronics equipment were offloaded from Ocean Giant in Antarctic. The cargo will provide nearly 80 percent of the items needed for survival over the severe arctic winter over period when the station is cutoff from the rest of the world.

Operation Deep Freeze is a joint service, on-going Defense Support to Civilian Authorities activity in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program. Mission support consists of active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard as well as Department of Defense civilians and attached non-DOD civilians. ODF operates from two primary locations situated at Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. An MSC-chartered cargo ship and tanker have made the challenging voyage to Antarctica every year since the station and its resupply mission were established in 1955.

• Date Taken: 03.13.2025
• Date Posted: 03.13.2025 13:17
• Story ID: 492761
• Location: US