USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) in 2006. US Coast Guard Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Coast Guard has determined — through independent analysis — it needs three heavy and three medium icebreakers to cover the U.S. anticipated needs in the Arctic and Antarctic, commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft, told reporters on Tuesday. Read More
The following is the Jan. 9, 2015 Congressional Research Service report, Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
USCG commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft. US Coast Guard Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. Navy shifts more of its attention to the Pacific the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is moving more resources into the Western Hemisphere. Closer to the U.S. has grown by 40 percent, USCG commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told attendees at the Maritime Security Dialogue on Friday. Read More
The following is the July 1, 2014 Congressional Research Service report, Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization. Read More
The following is from the May, 24 2013 Congressional Research Service report: Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization.
The Coast Guard’s FY2013 budget initiated a new project for the design and construction of a new polar icebreaker. The Coast Guard’s proposed FY2013 budget requested $8 million in FY2013 acquisition funding to initiate survey and design activities for the ship, and projected an additional $852 million in FY2013-FY2017 for acquiring the ship. The Coast Guard’s FY2013 budget anticipated awarding a construction contract for the ship “within the next five years” and taking delivery on the ship “within a decade.”
Coast Guard polar icebreakers perform a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions. The Coast Guard’s two existing heavy polar icebreakers—Polar Star and Polar Sea— have exceeded their originally intended 30-year service lives. Polar Star was placed in caretaker status on July 1, 2006. Congress in FY2009 and FY2010 provided funding to repair it and return it to service for an additional 7 to 10 years of service; the repair work was completed and the ship was reactivated on December 14, 2012. Read More
