Mississippi-based VT Halter Marine is in the process of getting its Pascagoula yard ready for the construction of the Coast Guard’s next-generation icebreaker, the Polar Security Cutter. The yard is…
u.s. coast guard icebreakers
McMurdo Resupply Canceled – US’s Only Heavy Icebreaker Will Go North Instead
This year the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the nation’s only heavy icebreaker, will not deploy to Antarctica to resupply McMurdo station this year because Operation Deep Freeze was canceled due to COVID. Instead, she will head to the Arctic this winter to “protect the nation’s maritime...
Heading Home: U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy Suffers Fire Off Alaska
The United States’ only medium icebreaker USCGC Healy has suffered a fire and propulsion failure while en route to the Arctic. The U.S. Coast Guard reports that the Healy was approximately 60 nautical miles off Seward, Alaska on August 18 when an electrical fire in one of the ship’s main propulsion...
MacGregor to Supply Deck Machinery and Cargo Equipment for USCG’s Polar Security Cutter
MacGregor has been awarded the contract to supply the deck machinery and cargo handling equipment for the US Coast Guard’s next-generation Polar Security Cutter. MacGregor, part of Cargotec, received the order from VT Halter Marine, the prime contractor in the PSC program. For its part, MacGregor...
Melting Ice Caps Are a National Security Crisis: James Stavridis
By James Stavridis (Bloomberg Opinion) — I spent much of my life in the U.S. Navy, including nearly 11 years on the deep ocean day-to-day, out of sight of land. This really drove home the fact that oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface — all the world’s land would fit comfortably within...
VT Halter Reveals New Coast Guard Icebreaker Details
Mississippi-based shipbuilder VT Halter Marine has provided new details on the $745 million contract for the design and construction of the United States’ first new heavy icebreaker in more than 40 years. As we reported last month, the U.S. Department of Navy selected VT Halter as the prime...
FIRE IN ANTARCTIC OCEAN Aboard USCG’s Last Heavy Icebreaker
The 150-member crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star fought a fire at approximately 9 p.m. PST Feb. 10 that broke out in the ship’s incinerator room about 650 miles north of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. After initial response efforts using four fire extinguishers failed, fire crews spent...
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Optimistic About Icebreaker Funding
By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The United States may soon get funding for a new heavy icebreaker ship, the head of the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, as global warming spurs the race to stake out the Arctic, which is rich in oil, gas, and minerals. The United States has two...