
The Coast Guard last Friday issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a service life extension of its lone heavy polar icebreaker, the Polar Star. The service plans a phased service life extension project (SELP) of the aging icebreaker to keep it operational while new Polar Security Cutters (PSCs) are delivered to the fleet beginning in 2024. Work on the Polar Star, which was commissioned in 1976, will occur between deployments. The 399-foot icebreaker is currently in Antarctica in support…