US Coast Guard commandant hopeful of new icebreaker in FY13

As the US Coast Guard (USCG) continues its nascent operations in the Arctic, the service's top official said on 6 December that the icebreaker fleet is "woefully inadequate", but that he is hopeful lawmakers will help push through legislation that provides funding for a new vessel.

"I think there's good momentum building to build a new icebreaker," USCG Commandant Admiral Bob Papp told industry at a Navy League event near Washington.

USCGC Healy (WAGB 20) is the sole operational icebreaker in the United States. Last January, the ship garnered recognition for the coastguard's plight when it broke through 300 miles of ice in the Bering Sea to make way for a Russian ship carrying oil supplies for the isolated city of Nome, Alaska. Though the mission was successful, it shed light on the coastguard's shortage of heavy icebreakers.

In President Barack Obama's Fiscal Year 2013 budget, the coastguard has requested USD8 million to procure and develop a new Polar-class icebreaker.

To bolster the fleet in the meantime, heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star , which is more than 36 years old, will be refurbished and placed back in service next year, Adm Papp added.