The U.S. Coast Guard inked a deal last week to bring a third icebreaker into its fleet. The long-awaited move was announced at the Halifax International Security Forum held in Nova Scotia November 22-24.
From July to September the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) publicly documented at least five separate intercepts of Russian or Chinese vessels in the Bering and Chukchi seas. Press releases announcing the intercepts often noted that the Coast Guard “met presence with presence”.
But with the USCG operating just two polar icebreakers, one each in the northern and southern hemispheres, what happens if one is nonoperational?
That happened this summer when the 28-year-old USCGC Healy experienced an electrical fire while on patrol in the Chukchi sea. Ships like the USCGC Stratton, Alex Haley, and Kimball scrambled to fill the gap, although they lack the icebreaking capabilities the Healy and Polar Star bring to the fleet.
Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, Linda Fagan, said at the forum that following months of negotiations, they’re getting closer to closing that gap with the acquisition of a new icebreaker, the Aiviq.
“Just in the last three days, we have signed a contract to acquire a commercially available icebreaker," Admiral Fagan shared.
The Aiviq, which draws its name from the Inupiaq word for “walrus”, was launched in 2011 and has primarily served as a support vessel for oil exploration. Following some modifications, the 360’ foot vessel will be designated a medium polar icebreaker, the same class as the Healy.
Seated next to Admiral Fagan was Canada’s Minister of National Defense, Bill Blair. He said as climate change transforms the Arctic, so too are global trade routes.
“As the sea ice melts and the permafrost melts, we believe that the Arctic Ocean could very easily become the main point of transit between Europe and Asia, as a trade route, in the coming decades," Minister Blair said.
The Coast Guard has said it needs as many as nine icebreakers to protect the nation's interests in the Arctic. Admiral Fagan said they can’t come soon enough.
“We are behind as a nation. This isn't an Alaska issue, this is a United States sovereignty and defense issue as it pertains to the Arctic,” Admiral Fagan said.
During a House subcommittee hearing on November 14, Vice Admiral Thomas Allan said efforts to get the new ship ready for operations are underway.
“We are making tremendous strides in that with the owner. They've already painted about a quarter of it Coast Guard icebreaker red,” Vice Admiral Allan shared.
He said they plan on sailing the Aiviq up to its new homeport of Juneau in the spring of 2026.
