Over the weekend Sean Lawler posted on his Flickr page some shots of what has come to infest the hull of the CGC POLAR STAR which has been in “caretaker status” since July 1, 2006. And unbeknownst to me the news broke last October that the CG was getting $30 million to overhaul the Polar Star; however, this money was to be in the 2009 Homeland Security Department budget… so we’ve had it for a while.

Well earlier this winter (February) the Seattle PI told us that a contract was indeed awarded for the overhaul of the STAR for an estimated $29M- a price I’m sure has inflated in the last six months. From the PI-

The U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker Polar Star, which has been in a near-mothballed “caretaker status” for several years now, will be revived with a $29 million retrofit at Seattle’s Todd Pacific Shipyards, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Friday.

And the retrofit has seemingly begun…