The good news is that after years of not-so-benign neglect the US Coast Guard is finally getting an appropriation to build three new heavy polar icebreakers, followed by the construction of three new medium polar icebreakers. The Coast Guard currently has one heavy icebreaker, USCGC Polar Star, which is 43 years old and has suffered repeated breakdowns. It has been kept operating primarily by scavenging from a sister ship, Polar Sea which has not been in service since 2010. The Coast Guard also has one medium icebreaker, the ten-year-old USCGC Healy.

The less than good news is that while the $745.9 million construction contract for the first heavy icebreaker, dubbed a Polar Security Cutter, has been awarded to VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, MS, the ship will not be delivered until 2024. The Polar Star and the Healy will have to hang on for another five years. The two follow-on heavy icebreakers are also not guaranteed as they are priced as contract options.

Marine Log quotes Admiral Karl L. Schultz, Commandant of the Coast Guard. “Against the backdrop of great power competition, the Polar Security Cutter is key to our nation’s presence in the polar regions,. With the strong support of both the Trump Administration and the United States Congress, this contract award marks an important step towards building the nation’s full complement of six polar icebreakers to meet the unique mission demands that have emerged from increased commerce, tourism, research, and international activities in the Arctic and Antarctic.”