Coast Guard Seeks New Icebreaker

The Coast Guard has invited industry representatives to present their prospective plans for the service’s next-generation icebreaker. The Polar Icebreaker Replacement Program tentatively will hold an Industry Day in early March, and follow up with one-on-one meetings with candidates who have presented the most viable options. “We want to have a dialogue with industry,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told the U.S. Naval Institute Press. The Coast Guard has one operational heavy icebreaker, the cutter Polar Star, and one medium such vessel, the Healy. The Russian navy, meanwhile, has 41 operational icebreakers, according to the Naval Institute Press.