The U.S. Coast Guard inked a deal last month to bring a third icebreaker, the civilian vessel Aiviq, into its fleet. The long-awaited move was announced at the Halifax International Security Forum held in Nova Scotia Nov. 22-24.
From July to September, the U.S. Coast Guard 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 Coast Guard operating just two polar icebreakers, one each in the northern and southern hemispheres, what happens if one is not operational?
That happened this summer when the 28-year-old polar icebreaker Healy experienced an electrical fire while on patrol in the Chukchi Sea. Other Coast Guard vessels scrambled to fill the gap, although they lack the icebreaking capabilities the Healy and its sister icebreaker the Polar Star bring to the fleet.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan said at the forum that following months of negotiations, they’re getting closer to closing that gap.
“Just in the last three days, we have signed a contract to acquire a commercially available icebreaker,” Fagan said.
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-long vessel will be designated a medium polar icebreaker, the same class as the Healy.
Seated next to Fagan was Canada’s minister of national defense, Bill Blair. He said as climate change transforms the Arctic, it is also remaking 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,” Blair said.
The Coast Guard has said it needs as many as nine icebreakers to protect the nation’s interests in the Arctic. According to Fagan, 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,” she said.
RELATED: Coast Guard confirms new icebreaker will be homeported in Juneau
During a Nov. 14 hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Coast Guard Vice Adm. 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,” Allan said.
He said the Aiviq is scheduled to sail to its new homeport of Juneau in the spring of 2026.
