Pressure Builds for New Polar Icebreaker.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* As the Arctic Ocean's ice melts, the Navy and the rest of the United States must rely on the cash-strapped Coast Guard to maintain the nation's icebreaker fleet.

Of the Coast Guard's three icebreakers, only two are operational. More pressure is being put on the service to build a new heavy-duty vessel. During a December hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's subcommittee on Coast Guard and maritime transportation, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard said the service had made some headway in procuring a new ice-breaking ship.

"We continue to evaluate the requirements for a new polar icebreaker," Vice Adm. John P. Currier testified. "The Coast Guard has ... initiated activities to support the acquisition of a new polar icebreaker to maintain long-term Coast Guard mission capabilities in the high latitude regions."

The service so far has completed a mission needs statement as well as a concept of operations and environmental conditions analysis report, Currier said.

The Coast Guard has a statutory responsibility to maintain icebreakers for the United States.

It would cost $1 billion to procure a new polar icebreaker, Currier said, and that is too steep a price for the Coast Guard to take on alone. There needs to be a "whole-of-government solution" with entities such as the National Science Foundation and the Defense Department participating. Any organization that has a "stake in the Arctic" should contribute to ship requirements and help foot the bill, he said.

"A billion dollars is clearly not something we [alone] can absorb," Currier said.

The ship will be used for more than just Coast Guard needs, he said.

"What I don't want people to think is that the Coast Guard is advocating or looking to procure a new-start icebreaker for a billion dollars that is strictly to address Coast Guard requirements," Currier said.

Brian Slattery, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said it is unlikely that the Coast Guard will procure a new heavy polar icebreaker in the near future.

The Coast Guard's budget has steadily declined year after year, Slattery said. It isn't possible for the service to bear the full cost. The Coast Guard is also attempting to procure a number of new vessels--such as national security cutters and offshore patrol cutters--which is further straining its budget, he said.

"There is a lot of demand for resources in procurement, so they will be stretched pretty thin...