Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

• Main Author: O'Rourke, Ronald
• Other Authors: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Economics and Cost Analysis; Marine Engineering; Logistics; Military Facilities and Supplies; *COAST GUARD SHIPS; *ICEBREAKERS; *MILITARY MODERNIZATION; CONGRESS; FEDERAL BUDGETS; MILITARY PROCUREMENT; POLAR REGIONS; POLAR ICEBREAKERS; Polar Star; Icebreaker
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA579841; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA579841

The Coast Guard s proposed FY2013 budget submission requested $8 million in FY2013 acquisition funding to initiate survey and design activities for a new polar icebreaker, and projected an additional $852 million for acquiring the ship in FY2014-FY2017, including $120 million in FY2014. The Coast Guard s FY2013 budget anticipated awarding a construction contract for the ship within the next five years and taking delivery on the ship within a decade. The project to design and build a polar icebreaker was a new acquisition project initiated in the FY2013 budget. The Coast Guard s proposed FY2014 budget requests $2 million to continue survey and design activities for a new Coast Guard polar icebreaker, or $118 million less than the $120 million that was projected for FY2014 under the FY2013 budget. The proposed FY2014 budget anticipates awarding a construction contract for the ship within the next four years. Coast Guard polar icebreakers perform a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions. The Coast Guard s two existing heavy polar icebreakers Polar Star and Polar Sea have exceeded their originally intended 30-year service lives. Polar Star was placed in caretaker status on July 1, 2006. Congress in FY2009 and FY2010 provided funding to repair it and return it to service for an additional 7 to 10 years of service; the repair work was completed and the ship was reactivated on December 14, 2012. On June 25, 2010, the Coast Guard announced that Polar Sea had suffered an unexpected engine casualty; the ship was unavailable for operation after that. The Coast Guard placed Polar Sea in commissioned, inactive status on October 14, 2011. CRS Report for Congress.