The Coast Guard wants new icebreakers to replace the two aging ones now in operation — the heavy Polar Star and medium Polar Sea. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that the service needs to “expand its icebreaking capacity,” with a fleet of at least six new so-called “polar security cutters” — three heavy and three medium-sized.
Questions remain, however, in regards to if and how any new icebreakers would be funded. A Feb. 15 white paper published by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) noted that the Coast Guard wants to begin construction on the first of the three heavy ships this year. To date, the service has received $359.6 in acquisition funding through this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The Coast Guard is asking for another $750 million for the ship in its fiscal year 2019 budget request.
The CRS estimated the total costs for the three heavy icebreakers at $2.1 billion, with the first ship absorbing the most of the expenses associated with the “production learning curve for the class.”
The CRS report also outlined the poor condition of both Polar Star and Polar Sea, noting that the ships might not be capable of carrying out “responsibilities and defend … interests in the Arctic.”
This conclusion has been supported anecdotally in media reports. An article that appeared in Seapower magazine two years ago described the trials the Seattle-based Polar Star faced as it conducted its annual replenishment mission to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. At one point, the icebreaker’s crew had to rely upon a Fiberglas surfboard repair kit — supplied by a Coast Guardsman who bought it during a stopover in Hawaii — to repair a broken part in the engine room.
The CRS report concluded that Congress faces key choices:
* Approve or reject this year’s Coast Guard funding request.
* Use a “contract with options or a block buy contract” to acquire the icebreakers.
* Provide a part of the funding through the Navy’s shipbuilding account.
* Procure the icebreakers “to a common basic design.”
