US Coast Guard Can’t Crew All Its Ships Due to Recruiting Shortage

Last week, US Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday spoke at the Brookings Institution and addressed the service’s enlisted force’s ongoing 10 percent manning shortage.  Entering the fiscal year, the Coast Guard was about 3,000 members short of end strength … Continue reading

First New Polar Icebreaker Delivery Delayed Until 2025

In 2019, we posted that US Coast Guard was 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 … Continue reading

First New Polar Icebreaker Under Contract, Delivery by 2024

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 … Continue reading

Arctic Icebreaking – the USCGC Healy and the NS 50 Let Pobedy

NASA has recently published an analysis of the arctic operations of the icebreaker USCGC Healy. The Healy has been serving as a research vessel in Arctic water with more than 4,200 square feet of scientific laboratory space, numerous electronic sensor systems, … Continue reading