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Polar Sea News

25 Aug 2020

US Icebreaker Suffers Fire, Engine Failure

File photo: Polar-class icebreaker Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Kellen Browne)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) is making an early return to its Seattle homeport, and its future Arctic operations have been canceled after the 21-year-old medium icebreaker suffered a fire in one of its main propulsion motors last week.The electrical fire was reported at 9:30 p.m. on August 18 while the Healy was 60 nautical miles off of Seward, Alaska, where it had embarked 11 scientists for research and security mission in the Arctic.An onboard fire team disconnected the affected motor


25 Aug 2020

Video: Trump Says US is Working to Acquire 10 Icebreakers

President Donald J. Trump speaks during a briefing at U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Fla. (Photo by Michael C. Dougherty, U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs)

President Donald Trump says the U.S. is hashing out a plan to acquire up to 10 additional polar icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard.Trump, who over the years has emphasized his administration's commitment to growing the Coast Guard's icebreaker fleet, outlined the new plans in vague terms within remarks delivered at Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Fla., Friday.The President did not specify how the icebreakers would be obtained, or whether the vessels would be newbuilds


13 Jul 2020

USCG Polar Security Cutters: The History and Future

Credit: Halter Marine and Technology Associates, Inc.

The good news is that work has commenced on the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the United States Coast Guard in 43 years. The bad news is that when it enters service, projected to occur in FY2024, it will be the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the USCG in 47 years.Meanwhile, Russia has approximately 30 active polar icebreakers, including four that are nuclear powered. Arktika, the first of a new class of three heavy polar icebreakers, has commenced sea trials in the Gulf of Finland, with the other two under construction.

14 Nov 2019

USCG PSC Equals meaningful Polar Presence

An emperor penguin poses for a photo in front of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. The crew of the Seattle-based Polar Star is on its way to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2018, the U.S. military’s contribution to the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Nick Ameen.

The Coast Guard needs a ship that can do more than just break ice; it needs a multi-mission ship to provide for the nation’s security, asserting its sovereign rights, and protecting its long-term economic interests. That ship is the Polar Security Cutter.Since Russia cashed the check in 1867 for the purchase of Alaska the U.S. has been an Arctic nation. Today, it is one of eight countries that have territorial land or seas above the Arctic Circle or in the polar region (six of those countries have Arctic Ocean coastline or an exclusive economic zone above the Arctic Circle). The U.S.

16 Aug 2019

July: Earth's Hottest Month Ever Recorded

© Alexander/Adobe Stock

According to the latest monthly climate report from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July 2019 was hottest month on record for the planet and Polar sea ice melted to record lows.Much of the planet sweltered in unprecedented heat in July, as temperatures soared to new heights in the hottest month ever recorded. The record warmth also shrank Arctic and Antarctic sea ice to historic lows.The average global temperature in July was 1.71 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees


05 Dec 2018

LANL Releases New Sea-Ice Computer Model

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) with several collaborating groups released an update for an internationally vital sea-ice computer model, called CICE version 6.0, a timely tool that supports more accurate forecasting of ice occurrence and global climate modeling.“This update improves our ability to understand a type of anchored ice, called land-fast ice, that is attached to the shore or sea bottom and can block shipping lanes and northern ports,” said Elizabeth Hunke, lead developer of the CICE model. “The polar regions are not desolate, they’re actually alive with shipping, energy development, fishing, hunting, research and military defense operations,” Hunke noted.“Sea ice makes navigation hazardous, as thick ice can block fishing boats and even makes it difficult for U.S.

09 Jul 2018

Bollinger: New Icebreakers Could be Built in Florida

Bollinger’s President Ben Bordelon (Photo: Bollinger Shipyards)

As the U.S. Coast Guard continues planning for the construction of the new icebreakers it desperately needs, U.S. shipbuilder Bollinger Shipyards says it has a facility suitable to build them.Bollinger says it has selected Tampa Shipyard for the design and construction of up to three heavy polar icebreakers, and three additional medium sized icebreakers under consideration by the U.S. Coast Guard.“We are excited to respond to the Coast Guard’s need to recapitalize its depleted polar capabilities,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s President and CEO.

19 Mar 2018

The US Government Must Fund Icebreakers Now

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts through Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea in January 2017 (U.S. Coast Guard photo by David Mosley)

Congress last funded the purchase of polar icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard in the early 1970s. The USCCG Polar Star (WAGB-10) was commissioned in 1976, followed by the USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) in 1977. Polar Sea has been out of service since 2010 due to a major engine failure. Polar Star was ‘in commission, special’ status from 2008 through 2012 while undergoing a service life extension. It is currently the only active heavy polar icebreaker in the U.S. fleet. The less capable USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) is a medium icebreaker and is equipped to support research missions in polar waters.

07 Feb 2018

US Icebreaker Suffers Flooding, Engine Failure in Antarctic

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Nick Ameen)

America’s aging, sole remaining heavy icebreaker suffered several engineering challenges, including flooding and engine failure, on its way to completing a recent mission in the Antarctic, highlighting the U.S.’ need for new polar icebreakers. The 1970s-era U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is called upon each year to aid the delivery of fuel and supplies for National Science Foundation research stations in Antarctica, carving a navigable path through the Ross Sea where seasonal and multi-year ice is sometimes as much as 10 feet thick.

24 Dec 2017

Space X Launches Fourth Set of Iridium NEXT Satellites

Iridium Communications announced that, SpaceX successfully launched the fourth set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch marks the midway point of the Iridium NEXT launch program, and was the first Iridium launch to use a SpaceX flight-proven rocket. The first stage booster for Iridium-4 was previously used for Iridium-2, making Iridium the first company to reuse the same rocket booster. Each launch strategically delivers new satellites to specific orbital planes, so that the complete Iridium NEXT constellation will be operational as soon as possible after all launches are complete.

17 Feb 2017

Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice at Record Low in January

Photo: © staphy / Adove Stock

The extent of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic last month was the lowest on record for January, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization said on Friday, while concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit a January record. "The missing ice in both poles has been quite extraordinary," David Carlson, director of the World Climate Research Programme, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. "It is a quite strange situation. The month of January was probably the second or third hottest such month on record, but that was not a reliable indicator of the state of the climate, he said.

05 Dec 2016

Polar Sea Ice the Size of India Vanishes in Record Heat

© sichkarenko_com / Adobe Stock

Sea ice off Antarctica and in the Arctic is at record lows for this time of year after declining by twice the size of Alaska in a sign of rising global temperatures, climate scientists say. Against a trend of global warming and a steady retreat of ice at earth's northern tip, ice floating on the Southern Ocean off Antarctica has tended to expand in recent years. But now it is shrinking at both ends of the planet, a development alarming scientists and to which a build-up of man-made greenhouse gases


22 Nov 2016

America Needs Icebreakers

USCGC Polar Star (Photo: USCG)

Russia has more polar icebreakers than the rest of the world combined. America has one polar icebreaker and that one is well past its prime. There has been talk of sharing icebreakers. Sharing may work with allies, who are generally on the same page. Sharing will not work with Russia, which views the world as a zero-sum game. In June 2016, Russia announced the launching of Arktika, the world’s largest polar icebreaker. With a full load displacement of 33,540 tons, a length of 173.3 meters and a breadth of 34 meters, it will be capable of breaking ice up to 2.9 meters.

27 Oct 2015

North Pole: The Latest Tourist Trap

Dennis Bryant

On August 16, 2015, the geographic North Pole was visited by a Russian surface ship for the one-hundredth time. The Russian nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory) carried 106 tourists from 16 different countries. This was the icebreaker’s seventh cruise to the Pole just this season. Each voyage takes just less than two weeks round trip, and that includes a full day of partying at the top of the world. This is all available for a starting cost of $26,995 per person for a basic two-person cabin with a standard twin bed


26 Oct 2015

Polar Code Will Force Big Operator Investment

Photo: IMO

Experts predict a higher level of shipping activity through polar sea routes for the years to come. Aiming to limit the impact of this activity on the region’s fragile environment, the IMO’s Polar Code sets standards that are likely to affect operators in a big way when they come into force in 2017. The Polar Code, adopted by the IMO via amendments to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) and MARPOL (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Conventions, sets a number of mandatory shipping rules


08 Apr 2015

USCG Makes Headway in Challenging Waters

A patrol boat manned by members of Port Security Unit 311 deployed to Joint Task Force-Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, escorts the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf as it sails into Naval Base Guantanamo Bay.  The Coast Guard Cutter Waesche conducts at-sea refueling operations.  The Alameda-based cutter is named in honor of former Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Russell Waesche.  (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Roache)

Day after day, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to conduct its 11 statutory missions with its limited resources. It is challenged to Invest in long-term operational capacity while continuing to carry out its daily missions. “We’re a small service, but as always, we do punch above our weight class,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft during the 2015 Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Virginia. While the Coast Guard may have drifted off course with its ambitious and holistic Deepwater recapitalization effort


16 Dec 2014

RV Sikuliaq: Modern Electric Propulsion & Power Management

While ships have used electricity to help power vessels for a long time, new and sophisticated diesel-electric technologies are making serious gains in efficiency, noise and environmental impact, and is becoming the propulsion system of choice for some high profile names. A recent case is the diesel-electric powered, RV Sikuliaq (pronounced “see-koo-lee-auk,” an Inupiaq term meaning “young sea ice.”), a vessel embarking on a lifetime of studies in the polar sea region, including examining the effects of climate change and increased human presence in the Arctic.

24 Sep 2014

Is the US Prepared to Protect Its Arctic Interests?

The answer to this question is a resounding “no.” The U.S. is not prepared to protect its interests in the Arctic over the next decade. The primary legal regime that is being relied upon by all members of the Arctic fraternity, the Law of the Sea Convention, has not been adopted by the U.S. The operational resources needed to pursue our interests have not been funded and there is currently little prospect that they will be funded in the near future. U.S. interests in the Arctic are vast.

24 Jul 2014

House Subcommittee Hearing Highlights “Dismal State” of U.S. Icebreaking Capability

Craig H. Allen, Sr.

At the July 23, 2014, hearing of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on “Implementing U.S. Policy in the Arctic” the committee chairman, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), opened the proceedings by holding up a graphic of the icebreaker fleets of the world—which depicts nearly 40 Russian icebreakers—and then commented on the “dismal state” of the U.S. icebreaker situation. The hearing background paper noted that the United States presently has only two working polar class icebreakers


15 Jul 2014

USCG Icebreaker 'Polar Star' Change of Command

Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander, will preside over the ceremony where Capt. Matthew R. Walker will assume the duties and responsibilities as commanding officer of 'Polar Star' from Capt. George E. Pellissier, informs the Coast Guard. Commissioned in 1976, Polar Star is currently the only heavy ice breaker in service in the United States. The ship was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington along with her sister ship, Polar Sea. The cutter’s missions include close ice escort and logistics support of high latitude outposts. Polar Star also conducts search and rescue and supports scientific research in the Antarctic and Arctic regions. Capt.

18 Mar 2014

USCG: The Fleet Faces Forward

USCG Cutter Sapelo and the Royal Netherlands Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel HNLMS Holland search Caribbean Sea waters for bales of contraband jettisoned by Dominican drug smugglers.

The numerous cutters and craft of the U.S. Coast Guard —from the sail training ship Eagle to the large oceangoing patrol ships; from polar icebrakers to small utility boats — form a formidable fleet to meet the many challenging assignments undertaken by the service. In 2014 the Coast Guard continues its recapitalization program with its National Security Cutter (NSC), Fast Response Cutter (FPC) and Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). The service plans to procure 91 cutters (8 NSCs, 25 OPCs and 58 FRCs) to replace are 90 aging cutters and patrol boats. According to a Feb.

24 Sep 2013

Nordic Yards at Russia's Top Shipbuilding Fair

"Russia is and will remain an essential market for us", stated Vitaly Yusufov, owner and Managing Director of Nordic Yards. Currently there are a number of Russian contracts in the Nordic order books. For example yesterday, September 23, construction of two ice-breaking rescue and salvage ships ordered by Russia's Ministry of Transport in December 2012 started at the Nordic Yards shipyard in Wismar. After delivery in 2015 they will be used for patrol and rescue operations on the northern Polar Sea route.

23 Sep 2013

Nordic Yards Begins Rescue and Salvage Vessel Builds

Dmitrii Malofeev (RMRS) and Walter Schölzig, Project Manager at Nordic Yards

Nordic Yards started construction of two ice-breaking rescue and salvage vessels for the Russian Ministry of Transport today. The cutting of the first steel section, which traditionally marks the start of flame-cutting, was celebrated at the Wismar yard in the presence of representatives of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS) classification society. The Russian Ministry of Transport ordered the two multipurpose rescue and salvage vessels from Nordic Yards in December 2012.