A starboard view of the anchored US Coast Guard icebreaker POLAR STAR (WAGB 10).
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Coast Guard hopes to have its first three heavy icebreakers fielded by 2027 or 2028 to replace the one icebreaker that is increasingly struggling to make it to Antarctica and back each year and to increase U.S. presence in the high latitudes, the commandant said today. Read More
Ingalls Shipbuilding lands the 700-ton deckhouse on the amphibious assault ship Tripoli (LHA 7) on July 9, 2016. Ingalls Shipbuilding photo.
The U.S. Coast Guard offered industry the potential for a multi-ship, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar program in its heavy icebreaker competition – but funding uncertainties gave some of the nation’s largest shipbuilders cold feet when it came time to bid.
An artist’s rendering of VT Halter Marine’s winning bid for the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter. VT Halter Marine image used with permission
This post has been updated to include a rendering of the VT Halter Marine bid and the names of the two other shipyards who bid for the Polar Security Cutter contract.
VT Halter Marine Inc. has been awarded a $745M detailed design and construction contract for the Coast Guard’s next-generation heavy icebreaker, according to a Tuesday Pentagon contract announcement. Read More
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on April 4, 2019. US Coast Guard Photo
Unlike the other military services, the Coast Guard has not received budgetary relief to eliminate its maintenance backlog and keep cutters on patrol and helicopters flying or to address aging infrastructure problems pier-side, the commandant of the Coast Guard told a House panel on Tuesday. Read More
The crew members aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Nathan Bruckenthal moor to a pier in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday, July 24, 2018, prior to its commissioning ceremony. Coast Guard photo.
CAPITOL HILL – Lawmakers sounded skeptical that the Coast Guard’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request is enough to cover the cost of current operations and invest in future technology and equipment needs.
Adm. Karl Schultz, Coast Guard commandant, delivers the 2019 State of the Coast Guard Address at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro, Calif., on March 21, 2019. Coast Guard Image
SAN PEDRO, Calif. — As the Coast Guard continues modernizing with new cutters, drones and other technologies, its top leader warns the service will reach a “tipping point” without sufficient resources to support and sustain the force. Read More
Coast Guard Divers repair Heavy Icebreaker USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-10) during the cutter’s 2019 deployment to McMurdo Station Antarctica. US Coast Guard Image
The Coast Guard plans to award a contract this spring to build a new heavy icebreaker, but Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz says today’s problems running the one decades-old icebreaker illustrate the fragility of the current polar icebreaking capability. Read More
Contractors prepare to exchange the 16-foot-diameter propellers on the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star while the cutter undergoes repair work at a dry dock in Vallejo, Calif., on June 14, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
The Coast Guard’s proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget proposal includes a $35-million request to keep the momentum moving on the second Polar Security Cutter.
A curious Adelie penguin stands near the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star on McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. During their visit to Antarctica for Deep Freeze 2016, the U.S. military’s logistical support to the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program, the Polar Star crew encounters a variety of Antarctic marine life, including penguins, whales and seals. U.S. Coast Guard photo
The Coast Guard’s long-sought heavy icebreaker, the Polar Security Cutter, was among the programs to receive funding when Congress passed a spending package on late Thursday.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Shannon Eubanks (left) instructs Petty Officer 2nd Class Ed Traver (right) on ice rescue techniques on Oct. 3, 2018, about 715 miles north of Barrow, Alaska, in the Arctic. US Coast Guard Photo
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of a series; please also see U.S. Marine Corps Operations and U.S. Navy Operations.
For the U.S. Coast Guard, 2018 started and ended with news about the service’s new fleet of polar icebreakers.
