US Coast Guard acquires icebreaker, and gets approval for Polar cutter

The US Coast Guard has taken steps to address its dearth of icebreaking vessels. In the first instance, it has accepted ownership of the motor vessel Aiviq, a 360-foot polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker, from an Edison Chouest Offshore subsidiary.

The vessel will enhance the US operational presence in the Arctic and support Coast Guard missions while the service awaits delivery of new Polar security cutter (PSC)-class vessels.

Once the Aiviq is commissioned, it will be renamed as Coast Guard cutter Storis.

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“This acquisition is a vital step in increasing our operational presence in the Arctic,” said Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard. “The future Coast Guard cutter Storis builds on our legacy of Arctic operations and underscores our commitment to asserting US sovereignty and supporting national security in the region.”

The vessel came with a US$125 million price tag on a firm fixed-price contract with Offshore Service Vessels from Louisiana, and is expected, with minimal modifications, to conduct select Coast Guard missions in the Arctic.

The Storis will eventually be homeported in Juneau, Alaska, and will provide operational presence as a bridging strategy until the full complement of PSCs is delivered. The Coast Guard requires a fleet of eight or nine polar icebreakers to meet its operational needs in polar regions.

A new fleet of PSCs

In which regard, the week after the Aiviq was acquired, the Coast Guard received approval to begin building its first PSC.

It will become the first heavy polar icebreaker to be built in the United States in more than five decades.

The PSC is being built by Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which is the prime contractor for design and construction of the future PSC fleet. This decision is aimed at shortening the delivery timeline of these vessels.

The approval incorporates eight prototype fabrication assessment units (PFAUs) currently being built or planned. The PFAU effort was structured as a progressive crawl-walk-run approach to help the shipbuilder strengthen skills across the workforce and refine construction methods before moving into a full-rate production.

The PFA approach has also been developed with the aim of speeding production of US icebreakers.

The Coast Guard’s operational polar icebreaking fleet currently includes one heavy icebreaker, the 399-foot Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, commissioned in 1976, and one medium icebreaker, the 420-foot Coast Guard cutter Healy, commissioned in 1999.

A pressing need for icecutters

The US DoD’s Arctic Strategy, published in July 2024, advised the government to prioritise increasing the number of vessels in the US icecutter fleet, as both Russia and China were active in the area, and such activity, unchallenged, could be a threat to US freedom of operation.

The area, said the Strategy, was “vital for homeland defence” and “integral to the execution of Indo-Pacific operations”.

In November, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved a US$1.7 billion fund in procurements for the Coast Guard in FY2025, representing an additional $175 million over what the service had requested.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

Polar Security Cutter (Polar Icebreaker) Program (PSC 3)

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Polar Security Cutter (PSC)