Arctic Ocean over the Arctic Ocean (see Polar route). The Arctic Ocean occupies a roughly circular basin and covers an area of about , almost the size of Antarctica. The coastline is long. It is surrounded by the land masses of Eurasia, North America, Greenland, and by several islands. It is generally taken to include Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, White Sea and other tributary bodies of water. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait and to the Atlantic Ocean through the
USS Beaufort (ATS-2) Navy on 29 August 1996. Qualified "Beaufort" personnel were authorized the following: USS Beaufort (ATS-2) USS "Beaufort" (ATS-2) was an "Edenton"-class salvage and rescue ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1972 and maintained in service until struck in 1996. "Beaufort" spent her entire career in the Pacific Ocean, based out of Pearl Harbor and then Sasebo, Japan, and provided salvage and rescue services where needed from the Western Pacific to the North Pacific. The fifth ship to be so named by the Navy, "Beaufort" (ATS-2) was laid down on 19 February 1968 at Lowestoft, England, by Brooke Marine Ltd.;