President Barack Obama on Tuesday said his administration will propose accelerating the acquisition of a new heavy icebreaker for the Coast Guard by two years for use in plowing Arctic ice as human activity in the northern region of the planet increases due to warming waters.
The White House offered scant details on plans for a new icebreaker, which the Coast Guard has said would cost about $1 billion, but said the goal is to move up the acquisition of the vessel to 2020 from the current plan of 2022.
A White House fact sheet said that the administration will “begin planning for construction of additional icebreakers, and call on Congress to work with the administration to provide sufficient resources to fund these critical investments. These heavy icebreakers will ensure that the United States can meet our national interests, protect and manage our natural resources, and strengthen our international, state, local and tribal relationships.”
The Coast Guard currently has one operational heavy polar icebreaker, the 399-foot POLAR STAR, which was commissioned in 1976 and then after a three-year refurbishment was reactivated in 2013 with the plan to operate it until 2020, and one operational medium polar icebreaker the 420-foot HEAL, which was commissioned in 2000.
The service is currently in the analyze and select phase for a new polar icebreaker. The administration didn’t say when a Request for Proposals for the new icebreaker will be issued.
The Coast Guard is a bit leery of how any acquisition plan for a new icebreaker would be structured. The service’s annual acquisition budget is typically between $1 billion and $1.5 billion and it doesn’t want to be put in a position where its other acquisition priorities, most notably the medium-endurance Offshore Patrol Cutter, are made to pay for the new icebreaker.
As the Arctic Ocean warms and ice melts, there is increasing international interest and competition for natural resources and trade routes in the region. Russia has 40 icebreakers and another 11 planned or under construction, Obama said.