The Ship Model Forum

A new Coast Guard icebreaker is a decade away. A lawmaker says that’s too long.
Meghann Myers, Navy Times 1:13 p.m. EDT May 23, 2016

The Coast Guard is in the very early stages of building a second heavy icebreaker, but it's still about 10 years away and a California congressman is calling for the Navy to help its sister service out with design acumen and money.

For now, the heavy icebreaker Polar Sea is the Coast Guard's only option, but it's into its fifth decade of service, and doesn't have a backup if it breaks down.

In a May 17 letter to Assistant Navy Secretary Sean Stackley, who's in charge of research, development and acquisitions, Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter asked the Department of the Navy to provide some insight on the service's Arctic capabilities and outlook.

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Will the US Coast Guard Close the ‘Icebreaker Gap’?

The U.S. Coast Guard’s initiative to build additional icebreakers is gaining momentum.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
January 14, 2016


This Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard made a first step in its quest to accelerate the construction of additional polar icebreakers, by announcing a Federal Business Opportunities solicitation for the so-called Polar Class Icebreaker Replacement Program. The move came amid criticism that the United States is falling behind Russia and even China in the number of ice breaking vessels it can field.

According to the announcement, the Coast Guard intends to host an Industry Day followed by one-on-one meetings with prospective shipbuilders and ship designers as a part of ongoing market research in March 2016 in Washington, D.C.


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Navy teams up with Coast Guard to build polar icebreaker
Meghann Myers, Navy Times 7:49 p.m. EDT July 14, 2016


Lawmakers are urging the Coast Guard to lease foreign icebreakers until the service can build a new one with the Navy's assistance. Coast Guard officials prefer repairing the broken icebreaker Polar Sea in the meantime. (Photo: Petty Officer 3rd Class Pamela J. Manns/Coast Guard)

It would take the Coast Guard more than a decade to build a new polar icebreaker. To try to cut that time in half, it's joining forces with the Navy's well-oiled acquisition machine.

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In a Sept. 20 letter to House Republican leadership, Hunter, as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, asked for extra money for the US Coast Guard to lease or buy a vessel while debate continues about building a new ship. Hunter claims the cost to charter an existing vessel, called the Aiviq, would be $33 million per year to lease and $150 million to buy.

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The Senate has appropriated $1 billion in 2017 for the acquisition of a heavy icebreaker, and Hunter said in the letter he was optimistic the Coast Guard would receive full funding. Hunter’s idea is to pursue a block buy of at least two vessels and use the money as a “substantial down payment” to more rapidly design an icebreaker and buy lead materials.

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The Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker inventory consists of a single operational vessel, the Polar Star, which is 40 years old. Its other heavy icebreaker, the Polar Sea, is inactive. Lawmakers have expressed concerns the US will be overmatched in the Arctic by Russia's growing icebreaker fleet.

How America's Aging Icebreaker Trudged Through Its Last Mission
Terrell Jermaine Starr
Today 11:05am

The vibrations and salt buildup inside of the evaporators led to a few broken pipes. The engines required constant fine-tuning. Leaks were a regular nuisance. A fuel or oil line would break or a gasket would give away. The piping of two of the fuel tanks cracked, which required engineers to weld them back together. This was life aboard the 40-year-old USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), America’s last heavy icebreaker, on its most recent mission, its captain explained to Foxtrot Alpha.


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US Coast Guard’s last heavy icebreaker won't make it past 2023
By: David B. Larter   22 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard’s last remaining icebreaker has just over half a decade left in it at most, putting enormous pressure on the service to get a ship designed and built on a constrained timeline, the service’s No. 2 officer said Wednesday.

“We need to get that first heavy icebreaker on the water in 2023, that’s about it for Polar Star, which is the nation’s only heavy icebreaker,” Adm. Charles Michel said at the Defense News Conference in Pentagon City, Virginia. “That ship basically goes from Antarctica to the yards, Antarctica to the yards. And there is no backup.

“But in order to get that first icebreaker in the water by 2023, we have to get that first big slug of money in 2018. This is a critical year.”

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US releases request for proposal for Heavy Polar Icebreaker design and construction

Collaborating under an Integrated Program Office (IPO), the US Navy and Coast Guard released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for the detail design and construction of a Heavy Polar Icebreaker (HPIB).

Released on October 19, the draft RFP is for one HPIB, with options for two additional HPIBs.

The USCG requires new heavy icebreakers to ensure continued access to both polar regions and support the country’s economic, commercial, maritime and national security needs.

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Five Shipbuilders to Vie for Coast Guard Icebreaker Contract
3/2/2018
By Connie Lee

The Coast Guard plans to release a request for proposals for a new heavy icebreaker March 2, according to the service’s commandant.

Adm. Paul Paul Zukunft told reporters after his final State of the Coast Guard address March 1 that the RFP will contain a set of requirements for the upcoming vessel and be provided to five potential vendors prior to a contract award. He did not name the potential competitors.

Plans include fielding the ship in fiscal year 2023 and conducting a block buy for the next set of vessels, he said. The service currently has one working heavy polar icebreaker, the USCGC Polar Star, with the USCGC Polar Sea serving as a parts donor.

“We’ve been working this for 20 years now, but we’re getting out the starting blocks and we need to sprint,” he noted.

The service is looking to acquire a total of six icebreakers, which include three heavy and three medium cutters, he said. Zukunft added that the fiscal year 2019 budget request includes funding for this initiative.

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US Coast Guard to release new heavy icebreaker RFP
By: David B. Larter   1 day ago

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard’s top officer announced Thursday that the service is set to release its request for proposals as early as March 2 for its long-awaited heavy icebreaker replacement.

Adm. Paul Zukunft told an audience at the annual State of the Coast Guard address that the RFP will go out to five potential vendors and will be a comprehensive set of requirements and specifications for the new cutter.

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he is accelerating the melt with his hot air.

Congress Split on Funding Coast Guard Icebreakers to Counter Russia

24 Nov 2018
Special to McClatchy Washington Bureau | By By Kellen Browning
Democrats are pushing for Coast Guard icebreaker ships to be included in a funding bill that must be completed by Dec. 7 to avoid a partial government shutdown. But the move -- largely aimed at countering Russian influence in the Arctic -- is complicating negotiations already mired in debate over spending for President Donald Trump's border wall.
The party wants $750 million to expand the Coast Guard's small fleet of ships in the Arctic, where Russia has made inroads in recent years as the U.S. moves at a glacial pace. The money would pay for a new polar icebreaker, a large ship used for scientific research, defense and to break apart sheets of ice, allowing other vessels to traverse Arctic pathways.
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Icebreaker Or Border Wall? House Action Jeopardizes Coast Guard Ship Funding
14 Dec 2018
Military.com | By Richard Sisk
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said Friday he is ready to work with Congress to get back money for a new icebreaker that was stripped from the service’s proposed budget allocation to pay for the border wall.
"I'm going to stick by my guns and say I'm guardedly optimistic" that the $750 million for the icebreaker, which was removed from the Coast Guard’s budget proposal by the House, could be restored, Schultz said at a Navy League breakfast.
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Contract for New Coast Guard Icebreaker Could Be Awarded this Month
1 Apr 2019
Military.com | By Richard Sisk

The estimated cost of a new new Coast Guard icebreaker is significant, but the need is urgent given the state of the only heavy icebreaker currently in service, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said last week.

"This is going to be a world-class Polar icebreaker; high horsepower, the ability to drive through, you know, six, seven feet of ice at three knots continuous," Schultz said March 28 in testimony before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security.

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