USCGC Polar Star

Coast Guard Focused On Being Sea-Based In Arctic As Merits Of Deep-Water Port Debated

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz meets with Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan in Nome and Port Clarence, Alaska to discuss the construction of deep-draft ports in western Alaska, Aug. 13, 2018. Coast Guard photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For now, the Coast Guard is focused on being sea-based in the high latitudes even as talk of building a deep-water Arctic port gains support in Washington.

On Capitol Hill, Alaska’s lawmakers have for years highlighted the...

https://news.usni.org/2019/10/16/coast-guard-focused-on-being-sea-based-in-arctic-as-merits-of-deep-water-port-debated

Polar Security Cutter Fuses Performance Requirements With Maintenance Needs

An artist’s rendering of VT Halter Marine’s winning bid for the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter. VT Halter Marine image used with permission

WASHINGTON, D.C. – By building a heavy icebreaker designed to both withstand the frigid waters and accommodate major maintenance needs, the Coast Guard hopes to avoid the catastrophic failures that have hamstrung the service’s polar missions for a nearly a decade.

The Polar Security Cutter’s builder VT Halter Marine teamed up with New Orleans-based...

https://news.usni.org/2019/09/16/polar-security-cutter-fuses-performance-requirements-with-maintenance-needs

Pacific Deputy: Coast Guard a Continuing ‘Force Multiplier’ with Navy in Global Missions

Capt. Bob Little, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Legend-class cutter USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752), explains the process of a replenishment-at-sea (RAS) to a Royal Malaysian sailor as part of the at-sea phase of Maritime Training Activity (MTA) Malaysia 2019 on Aug. 17, 2019. MTA Malaysia 2019 is a continuation of 25 years of maritime engagements between the U.S. Navy and Royal Malaysian Navy serving to enhance mutual capabilities in ensuring maritime security and stability. US Navy photo.

SAN...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/27/pacific-deputy-coast-guard-a-continuing-force-multiplier-with-navy-in-global-missions

VT Halter Marine Details Coast Guard Icebreaker Bid

An artist’s rendering of VT Halter Marine’s winning bid for the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter. VT Halter Marine image used with permission

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Coast Guard’s next icebreaker is based on a German research vessel, features a unique Finnish propulsion design and is driven by American diesels, shipbuilder VT Halter Marine told USNI News on Tuesday.

Ron Baczkowski, the shipyard’s chief executive, outlined the Polar Security Cutter design the company is set to build in...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/08/vt-halter-marine-details-coast-guard-icebreaker-bid

Coast Guard Hopes to Have 3 Polar Security Cutters Fielded by 2028

A starboard view of the anchored US Coast Guard icebreaker POLAR STAR (WAGB 10).

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Coast Guard hopes to have its first three heavy icebreakers fielded by 2027 or 2028 to replace the one icebreaker that is increasingly struggling to make it to Antarctica and back each year and to increase U.S. presence in the high latitudes, the commandant said today.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said this morning that the icebreaker program – a planned three heavy...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/06/coast-guard-hopes-to-have-3-polar-security-cutters-fielded-by-2028

VT Halter Marine to Build New Coast Guard Icebreaker

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is hove-to in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, fast ice near the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Feb. 2, 2016. The U.S. Coast Guard is uniquely equipped and trained to operate in the austere and unforgiving Antarctic environment. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Grant DeVuyst)

VT Halter Marine Inc. has been awarded a $745M detailed design and construction contract for the Coast Guard’s next-generation heavy icebreaker, according to a...

https://news.usni.org/2019/04/23/vt-halter-marine-to-build-new-coast-guard-icebreaker

Schultz: Coast Guard Readiness at a ‘Tipping Point’

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on April 4, 2019. US Coast Guard Photo

Unlike the other military services, the Coast Guard has not received budgetary relief to eliminate its maintenance backlog and keep cutters on patrol and helicopters flying or to address aging infrastructure problems pier-side, the commandant of the Coast Guard told a House panel on Tuesday.

While there has been money earmarked for...

https://news.usni.org/2019/04/09/schultz-coast-guard-readiness-at-a-tipping-point

Schultz: Coast Guard Busy, Relevant and In Need of More Investment

Adm. Karl Schultz, Coast Guard commandant, delivers the 2019 State of the Coast Guard Address at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro, Calif., on March 21, 2019. Coast Guard Image

SAN PEDRO, Calif. — As the Coast Guard continues modernizing with new cutters, drones and other technologies, its top leader warns the service will reach a “tipping point” without sufficient resources to support and sustain the force.

“Our missions have never been more relevant or demanding than today;...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/22/schultz-coast-guard-busy-relevant-need-investment

Schultz: Ingenuity, Grit Keep Coast Guard’s Last Heavy Icebreaker Running

Coast Guard Divers repair Heavy Icebreaker USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-10) during the cutter’s 2019 deployment to McMurdo Station Antarctica. US Coast Guard Image

The Coast Guard plans to award a contract this spring to build a new heavy icebreaker, but Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz says today’s problems running the one decades-old icebreaker illustrate the fragility of the current polar icebreaking capability.

Each year, USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) runs a critical mission of breaking through miles of...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/21/42054

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