Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress

• Main Author: O'Rourke, Ronald
• Other Authors: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Economics and Cost Analysis; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Marine Engineering; Military Forces and Organizations; *POLAR REGIONS; *COAST GUARD SHIPS; *ICEBREAKERS; *SHIPBUILDING; *MILITARY MODERNIZATION; *REPLACEMENT; *REPAIR; *COST ESTIMATES; NUCLEAR POWERED SHIPS; ARCTIC REGIONS; FEDERAL BUDGETS; SCHEDULING; MILITARY BUDGETS; LEGISLATION; OBSOLESCENCE; REQUIREMENTS; *POLAR ICEBREAKERS; REPLACEMENT SHIPS; SHIP REPLACEMENT; SHIP MODERNIZATION; SHIP REPAIR; NSF(NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION); POLAR STAR; POLAR SEA; SERVICE LIFE EXTENSIONS; CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS; CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY; Arctic; Polar Star; Ice; Icebreaker; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA486571; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA486571

Of the Coast Guard's three polar icebreakers, two -- Polar Star and Polar Sea -- have exceeded their intended 30-year service lives. The Polar Star is not operational and has been on caretaker status since July 1, 2006. A 2007 report from the National Research Council (NRC) on the U.S. polar icebreaking fleet states that "U.S. [polar] icebreaking capability is now at risk of being unable to support national interests in the north and the south." The Administration is conducting an interagency Arctic policy review, and the Coast Guard is conducting studies on replacements for Polar Star and Polar Sea. Under the Coast Guard's current schedule, the first replacement polar icebreaker might enter service in 8 to 10 years. The Coast Guard estimated in February 2008 that new replacement ships might cost $800 million to $925 million each in 2008 dollars, and that the alternative of extending the service lives of Polar Sea and Polar Star for 25 years might cost about $400 million per ship. Potential policy issues for Congress regarding Coast Guard polar icebreaker modernization include the numbers and capabilities of polar icebreakers the Coast Guard will need in the future; whether to provide these icebreakers through construction of new ships or service life extensions of older ships; whether to accelerate the Coast Guard's current schedule for acquiring replacement ships; whether new ships should be nuclear powered; whether new ships should be funded entirely in the Coast Guard budget, or partly or entirely in some other part of the federal budget, such as the Department of Defense (DoD) budget, the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget, or both; and whether, as an interim measure, the Polar Star should be repaired and placed back into service. CRS Report for Congress.