The Coast Guard last Friday said it plans to negotiate with Offshore Service Vessels, LLC, to acquire a commercially available icebreaker to help meet its short-term needs for more polar icebreaking capacity.
Offshore Service Vessels, which is based in Louisiana and does business as Edison Chouest Offshore, on its website says it has previously built the 308-foot Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaking research vessel and the 230-foot-long Laurence M. Gould icebreaker. Both the Palmer—built in 1992—and the Gould—built in 1997—are chartered by the National Science Foundation for research and resupply in the Antarctic region.
The Coast Guard has requested $150 million in FY24 for a commercially available polar icebreaker.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard said that while it “has not finalized an acquisition strategy, the service knows of only one domestic commercially available polar icebreaker.” The notice of intent issued last Friday gives other vendors the opportunity to respond if they can meet Coast Guard requirements, the statement said.
“Pending the availability of appropriations, the Coast Guard intends to achieve initial operational capability (IOC) in 18 to 24 months,” the Coast Guard said. “At IOC, the vessel will be capable of conducting icebreaking operations in Polar Class 3 conditions. Following the achievement of IOC, the Coast Guard plans to conduct a series of phased modifications to achieve full operational capability (FOC) via a series of outfitting periods between annual Arctic operations.”
The Coast Guard said that any FOC modifications will be aimed at equipping the icebreaker for a wider range of service missions such as law enforcement, living marine resources, search and rescue, and ports, waterways, and coastal security.
The service currently has two operational polar icebreakers, the Polar Star, a heavy ship that typically performs an annual resupply mission to the NSF’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and the Healy, a medium ship used for research and presence missions in the Arctic.
Bollinger Shipyards is currently designing the first of at least three new heavy polar icebreakers for the Coast Guard. The service expects that construction of the first polar security cutter to begin shortly.