The length is 61 ft greater, and the draft is five feet greater. The propulsors are based on a Finnish design from ABB and are used on several commercial icebreakers. The Senate Armed Services Committee was interested in better understanding the plan for Navy equipment to be incorporated on HPIBs. Apr 2019 – Present 1 year 3 months. The objective of the studies are to identify design and systems approaches to reduce acquisition cost and production timelines. Raj said the VT Halter and Technology Associates design has the icebreaker handling up to sea state 7, marked by a stomach-churning 20-foot to nearly 30-foot waves. An alternative would be a block buy contract. Laxman Pai. The studies were expected to take 12 months to complete, with study results provided incrementally during that time. Cost Estimate of Icebreakers $4,704 million for 6 ships—an average of $784 million each. Polar Security Cutter Project Resident Office. The Committee on Polar Icebreaker Cost Assessment of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine estimated in July 2017 that the rough order-of-magnitude (ROM) cost of the first heavy icebreaker to be $983 million. One of the losing bidders, Fincantiari, was teamed with VARD and AKER Arctic. Its engine is buried in the ship, and the exotic high-strength steel used to build Polar Sea’s hull hasn’t been made in decades. That’s true for Baltic icebreakers, that’s true for the Russian icebreakers that have to keep the sea lanes open,” Raj said. document.cookie = "__adblocker=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/"; The United States Coast Guard affords icebreaker support, both domestic and polar, to a variety of ship operations conducted in areas made hazardous or impassable by ice. Compared to other heavy icebreakers, the Polar Security Cutter is longer than most because its mission requirements are different. Their hull structure sees a variety of loads ranging from those thermally induced to concentrated ice Impact loads to those impossible to design for, such as grounding on uncharted rock pinnacles. Testing at the NRC's location will take place in the second longest ice-tank in the world, the release noted. The first ship is … The committee estimated that a first-of-class medium icebreaker will cost approximately $786 million. The design uses mostly flat plates with some compound curves, limiting the amount of forging and casting and saving on production costs. 10-05-2019 11:48:36 ZULU. Deputy Director U.S. European Command. “Our nation has an urgent need for heavy polar icebreaking capability. The high quality standards met by POLAR's high-speed cutters also become evident in the compact class, - cutting machines POLAR D 56 to POLAR D 115. This puts us in the best possible position to succeed in this important endeavor,” said Haycock. “It’s basically like a blender on a margarita machine.”. The ship displaces about 33,000-tons fully loaded with accommodations for 186. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. Of these all-in costs, 75 to 80 percent are shipyard design and construction costs; the remaining 20 to 25 percent cover government-incurred costs such as government-furnished equipment and government-incurred program expenses. The Coast Guard requires six heavy and four medium icebreakers to fulfill its statutory missions and maintain the continuous presence requirements of the [2010] Naval Operations Concept. Jan. 13, 2021 - Coast Guard awards Polar Star service life extension contract 2020. This may reflect provision of segregated ballast in the new ship. “Our ability to engage early with our industry partners will be critical to delivering this capability to our nation,” said Stefany. var setNptTechAdblockerCookie = function(adblocker) { The partnership with Canada on the icebreaker program is based on an a 2004 agreement for Cooperation in Science and Technology for Critical Infrastructure and Border Security, the release explained. General Dynamics had teamed with Norwegian ship designer and manufacturer VARD for the Coast Guard's heavy Polar Icebreaker Program, the company says. VT Halter Marine selected a hull based on the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research vessel Polarstern II. GD's NASSCO shipbuilding division is leading the company's effort on the icebreaker program. The Coast Guard began the acquisition process for a new polar icebreaker and formed an integrated program office with the Navy’s Program Executive Office Ships and Naval Sea Systems Command’s Naval Systems Engineering Office to maintain this capability by building the next generation of these unique vessels. "Model tests at [NSWC, Maryland] will evaluate seakeeping, resistance, powering, and maneuvering performance with the ultimate goal of balancing icebreaking and open-water mobility capabilities." The Coast Guard’s ability to run Arctic and Antarctic missions has been hampered since June 2010, when USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11), one of the service’s two heavy icebreakers, suffered a catastrophic engine failure. 2021. Jan … The Coast Guard is receiving $655 million to start construction on the lead ship for a new class of Polar Security Cutter and is receiving an … The integrated USCG-Navy program office plans to award a single contract for design and construction of the lead heavy polar icebreaker in 2019. Accessing the engine for repairs would mean cutting a hole in the hull with no realistic way to patch it when finished. Instead of using an exotic steal, VT Halter is using a kind of steel commonly rolled in the U.S., Baczkowski said. “The Navy is committed to the success of the heavy icebreaker program and is working collaboratively with our Coast Guard counterparts to develop a robust acquisition strategy that drives affordability and competition, while strengthening the industrial base,” said Jay Stefany, Executive Director, Amphibious, Auxiliary and Sealift Office, Program Executive Office, Ships. Polar Security Cutter Heavy Polar Icebreaker [HPIB] ... will use the results of the studies to refine and validate the draft heavy polar icebreaker system specifications. The Polar Security Cutter will have split stacks, which provides the bridge a view of the helicopter pad in the aft of the ship, Raj said. The Navy identified the organizations working on the icebreaker program in the release as the Coast Guard, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) at NRC's St. John's, Newfoundland, ice-test facility. The cost of repairing Polar Sea would be astronomical to consider, Raj said. Earlier, on 11 September, the Coast Guard opened a Polar Security Cutter office at VT Halter Marine's shipyard in Pascagoula, MS, to coordinate and monitor the construction of the new vessels. “We deliberately looked at how workers can get into spaces to fix components at sea,” said retired Marine Corps Brig. The type of steel used to build the icebreaker is … document.cookie = "__adblocker=" + (adblocker ? Polar Star is 399 feet long, can break through up to 21 feet of ice, and has a crew of 155. “So, concentrating on the steel element is an important portion of it.”. In April 2019, VT Halter Marine was awarded a contract for the detail design and construction of the Coast Guard’s Polar Security Cutter class. The Polar Security Cutter solicitation directs offerors to use proven, state of the market technologies and components in their proposals to minimize design risk. Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering), a global technology, defence and engineering group today announced that the U.S. Department of the Navy has awarded VT Halter Marine, its shipbuilding business in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the Polar Security Cutter (formerly known as the Heavy Polar Ice Breaker) contract. The USCG Ice Breaker Program Building schedule would begin building in 2019-20. The study, dated July 2010 on its cover, concluded the following: “The Coast Guard requires three heavy and three medium icebreakers to fulfill its statutory missions. Washington D.C. Metro Area. VT Halter Marine Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi, a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering), was awarded a $745,940,860 fixed-price incentive-firm contract for the detail design and construction of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Polar Security Cutter (PSC) (formerly the Heavy Polar Ice Breaker). "true" : "false") + "; expires=" + d.toUTCString() + "; path=/"; Accommodations (171) are fewer than provided on the Polar Star, but more than provided in Healey. The USCG released draft system specifications in April 2017, a draft request for proposal (RFP) in October 2017, and the RFP for advance planning and detailed design in March 2018. Both are chartered by the National Science Foundation: Healy, to conduct arctic research, with a full research vessel-level science capability aboard; and Polar Star, to provide logistical support capability for Antarctic research. Designing a medium-class polar icebreaker in a second shipyard would incur the estimated engineering, design, and planning costs of $126 million and would forgo learning from the first three ships; the learning curve would be restarted with the first medium design. Cost estimate of a first-of-class medium icebreaker is $786 million, with the 4th ship $692 million. If advantage is taken of learning and quantity discounts available through the recommended block buy contracting acquisition strategy, the average cost per heavy icebreaker is approximately $791 million, on the basis of the acquisition of four ships. The Polar Security Cutter will be 460-feet long. With the Navy’s Arctic reach limited to submarines for now, these icebreakers give the United States the reach it needs at the poles with the incredibly limited shore infrastructure and hazardous conditions faced when operating in these environments. The bill also calls for an updated Arctic strategy, including regularly updated summaries of regional foreign threats posed by Russia and China, along with specific roles and missions for each branch of the U.S. military. Accordingly, not later than December 1, 2018, the Secretary of the Navy was directed, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management, to submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives an unclassified report, which may include a classified annex, containing the following: (1) A detailed description of Navy equipment planned to be included in HPIBs, including Navy-Type, Navy- Owned equipment; (2) The estimated space, weight, power, and cost for the equipment described in paragraph (1); (3) A description of Navy equipment under consideration to be included in HPIBs; (4) The estimated space, weight, power, and cost for the equipment described in paragraph (3); (5) An explanation of the capability of the equipment listed in paragraphs (1) and (3) to assist or augment the missions of the Combatant Commanders and the execution of the Department of Defense’s 2016 Arctic Strategy; and (6) A description of how the equipment listed in paragraphs (1) and (3) will meet a modular open systems approach to allow for future mission expansion. If all options are exercised, work will continue through November 2027. Coast Guard officials told us that in addition to price, the shipbuilders’ HPIB proposals will be evaluated on design factors, including how much the potential design exceeds the threshold icebreaking performance parameters. An example of how the icebreaker’s design and build teams weighed the placement of major components and which materials to use is the Polar Security Cutter’s engine space, said Anil Raj, the president of Technology Associates, at the conference. In July 2011, the Coast Guard provided the Congress the High Latitude Study, on the Coast Guard’s missions and capabilities for operations in high-latitude (i.e., polar) areas. Under the Polar Security Cutter contract, the selected shipyard will mature the … 4 In the designations WHEC, WMEC, and WPB, W means Coast Guard ship, HEC stands for high-endurance cutter, MEC stands for medium-endurance cutter, and PB stands for patrol boat. “It was not part of the spec requirements, but it was something we wanted to rethink. The Service is currently meeting the nation’s most critical icebreaking demands with one heavy and one medium Polar Security Cutter; however, this is insufficient to provide year-round access, or offer self-rescue in the event of casualty [such as engine failure]. Coast Guard officials stated that based on preliminary analysis, a design that meets the HPIB’s objective key performance parameters would be an entirely separate design and would be too costly to construct. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from New York University. The Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (PSC) program is a program to acquire three new PSCs (i.e., heavy polar icebreakers), to be followed years from now by the acquisition of up to three new Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) (i.e., medium polar icebreakers). The acquisition of Polar Security Cutters is being jointly managed across the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard through an IPO that leverages the expertise and utilizes best practices across each enterprise to deliver a fleet of highly capable, multi-mission ships in the most cost-efficient and timely manner possible. So, you can see that we have a long body.”. Cost estimate of the 1st heavy icebreaker is $983 million. Fiscal 2019 procurement, construction, and improvement (Coast Guard); and fiscal 2018 and 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) in the amount of $839,224,287 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contracts were awarded to the following recipients: Bollinger Shipyards, LLC, Lockport, Louisiana; Fincantieri Marine Group, LLC, Washington, District of Columbia; General Dynamics/National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California; Huntington Ingalls, Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi; and VT Halter Marine, Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi. GD says VARD is one of the premiere global designers of polar icebreakers. The Legend-class cutter, also known as the National Security Cutter (NSC) and Maritime Security Cutter, Large, is the largest active patrol cutter class of the United States Coast Guard.Entering into service in 2008, the Legend class is the largest of several new cutter designs developed as part of the Integrated Deepwater System Program. Icebreaker could enter service in 2023. VT Halter Marine graphic if the Polar Security Cutter design The US Coast Guard has released a request for information (RFI) ahead of a planned procurement of polar landing craft (PLC) that will support operations of the service’s new heavy icebreaker, the polar security cutter. Older icebreaker designs focused on protecting the propellers from ice, Raj said. Compared to the Polar Star, the new Polar Security Cutter beam is essentially the same. The indicative design represents an icebreaker design that meets the threshold key performance parameter of breaking 6 feet of ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots rather than the objective parameter of 8 feet of ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots. We put our engines up high, and you can actually pull the block up through the stack if you had a catastrophic failure.”. In August 2018, Congress passed a National Defense Authorization Act that approved unprecedented funds for the construction of six new polar class icebreakers by 2029. In addition to a requirement to develop heavy polar icebreaker designs with expected cost and schedule figures, the contracts require: the awardees to examine major design cost drivers; approaches to address potential acquisition, technology, and production risks; and benefits associated with different types of production contract types. VARD is owned by Italy's FINCANTIERI. Typical polar icebreaker missions include escort of vessels supplying outlying military or scientific stations: independent logistics support to similar outposts and ice and ocean survey operations and support in both polar regions. The shape of the hull pushed the broken ice aside, so it doesn’t interfere with the propulsion systems. Follow @Wernertime//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js, Polar Security Cutter Fuses Performance Requirements With Maintenance Needs, Member Services call 800-233-8764 or 410-268-6110, Report to Congress on U.S. Navy Ship Names. script.setAttribute("onerror", "setNptTechAdblockerCookie(true);"); The operational US polar icebreaking fleet currently consists of one heavy polar icebreaker, Polar Star. Designed for optimum performance at low temperatures in ice fields varying from uniform plate ice to deep windrowed ridges, they also transit areas of intense heat, high winds, and extreme sea conditions. A unique attribute of the Polar Security Cutter is the length of its midsection, Raj said. He has worked as a freelance writer in Busan, South Korea, and as a staff writer covering education and publicly traded companies for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., Savannah Morning News in Savannah, Ga., and Baltimore Business Journal. Displacement, Full Load: 33,000 tons (later corrected to 22,900 tons--Chuck) Length: 460 ft (140 meters) Beam: 88 ft (26.8 meters) HP: 45,200 … Navy said in a press release on 04 August 2017 that "Engineers and scientists from Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division [NSWC, Maryland] are working with an international, multiagency team to define requirements for and create the US Coast Guard's (USCG) next heavy polar icebreaker". The combined total value of the awards is approximately $20 million. The Coast Guard specs called for an icebreaker that could handle sea state four, marked by between 4-foot and 8-foot swells. The committee’s analysis of the ship size to incorporate the required components (stack-up length) suggests an overall length of 132 meters (433 feet) and a beam of 27 meters (89 feet). 3 CRS Report RL34391, Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (Polar Icebreaker) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke. Marine Log provides some additional details on the specifications for the Polar Security Cutter (Heavy Polar Icebreaker) construction project, recently contracted to VT Halter. This is consistent with USCG concepts for the vessel. The Defense Department awarded a $945.9 million contract to VT Halter Maritime Inc. to design and build a new class of Polar Security Cutter. "The heavy polar icebreakers will spend considerable time transiting in ice-free conditions, emphasizing the importance of the open-water performance," the release stressed. Assuming 50+ scientist and an Aviation Detachment, the crew is likely about 100. Presumably displacement will be greater than that of either Polar Star or Healy, over 20,000 tons full load. GD's exhibit booth at the 2017 Sea Air Space Symposium displayed a graphic with the two companies' names and an artist's concept of a Coast Guard Icebreaker. Healy is a good deal younger, commissioned in 2000 and capable of ramming through up to eight feet of ice. The design is optimized between icebreaking and seakeeping to support the voyage from its CONUS homeport to Antarctic. script.setAttribute("src", "//www.npttech.com/advertising.js"); USCG Polar Security Cutter Details Unveiled. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded five firm fixed-price contracts for Heavy Polar Icebreaker design studies and analysis 22 February 2017. This was a strong contender because VARD designed the Offshore Patrol Cutter, Fincantiari’s Marinette Marine built the Great Lakes icebreaker, Mackinaw, as well as several other Coast Guard progects, and AKER Arctic is a leader in icebreaker design. Presumably the crew will be smaller than Polar Star, more in line with Healy. A U.S. Coast Guard ship cuts through Arctic Ocean ice. Nominal range (21,500 @ 12 knots) is less than Polar Star (28,275 @ 13 knots), but still generous. “An interesting element of the icebreaker that us naval architects don’t really realize, this whole thing is steel, it’s really one big battering ram of steel and engines and propellers, and the rest is just fuel and mission,” Raj said. “The propellers are trying to eat the ice,” Raj said. The Polar Security Cutter will have split stacks, which provides the bridge a view of the helicopter pad in the aft of the ship, Raj said. Coast Guard envisions having a single US shipyard build all three ships under a contract with options, as a form of annual contracting. A “polar security cutter” is essentially a Coast Guard national security cutter that can break ice and operate effectively in unforgiving polar environments. Average cost is about $791 million for acquisition of 4 ships. The Coast Guard will issue its first construction contract for the long-awaited Polar Security Cutter icebreaker program in the “spring,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz announced March 21 during the annual state-of-the-Coast Guard speech in Long Beach, California. In January 2018, Commandant Adm. Zuku… Polar Security Cutter Final Programmatic EIS USCG March 2019 Page ES‐iii mobility; (5) protection of natural resources, and (6) ice operations, where polar security cutters … An artist’s rendering of VT Halter Marine’s winning bid for the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter. Cost Estimate is based on a ship with integrated electric drive, 3 propellers, a combined diesel and gas (electric) propulsion plant. document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script); Icebreaking capability would be equivalent to the POLAR Class Icebreaker Polar Star and research facilities and accommodations equivalent to HEALY. VT Halter Marine image used with permission. The U.S. Coast Guard established the heavy polar icebreaker acquisition program in 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-2210). Both services have an interest in preserving freedom of the seas, projecting Arctic sovereignty, and supporting scientific research. VT Halter described the PSC design is an evolution from the existing “Polar Stern II” currently in design and constructions. The type of steel used to build the icebreaker is also significant. They settled on using two ABB Azipod V3000 pods and one standard propeller to give the icebreaker a combination of power, stability and maneuverability. VT Halter and Technology Associates team researched several heavy icebreakers, using one, two and three propeller pods for propulsion, Raj said. The Polar name is synonymous with quality and at the time of writing there are 85 used Polar guillotines and second hand paper cutters for sale pressXchange. 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 Integrated Program Office plans to award a single contract for design and construction of the lead heavy polar icebreaker in fiscal year 2019, subject to appropriations. Procurement of long leadtime materials (LLTM) for the three ships would start in Q4 of 2019, Q2 of 2021, and Q2 of 2022. The initial contract included options for the construction of two additional PSCs. Page last modified: Projected delivery dates, 2024, 2025, 2027. The lengthened hull allows the Polar Security Cutter to do open water missions and has free space that could be used in the future for science missions, Raj said. Costs of building the fourth heavy icebreaker would be less than the costs of designing and building a first-of-class medium icebreaker. The heavy polar icebreaker integrated program office, staffed by Coast Guard and U.S. Navy personnel, will use the results of the studies to refine and validate the draft heavy polar icebreaker system specifications. Polar icebreakers operate under the most inhospitable ocean conditions the world has to offer. The 270 yard tank is capable of modelling a wide range of marine ice conditions, including first-year and multi-year ice, pack ice, ridged ice and glacial ice. Now, the materials used to build propellers have improved to the point that propellers are part of the icebreaking process. The Coast Guard’s mission requirements, including marine environmental protection, dictate that the service maintain heavy icebreaking capability for the foreseeable future. The Navy Arctic Roadmap was created by Task Force Climate Change and most recently revised in 2014 to prepare the Navy to respond effectively to future contingencies, delineate the Navy’s Arctic region leadership role within the Defense Department, and articulate the Navy’s support to the National Strategy for the Arctic region. In comparison, Finland’s new IB Polaris heavy icebreaker is about 360-feet long, according to its builder Artia. The icebreaker designer must allow for extreme loads on the one hand, but must pay attention, like all naval architects, to detail design, with a view toward eliminating structural failures from more subtle causes such as elastic instability, brittle fracture, and fatigue. d.setTime(d.getTime() + 60 * 60 * 24 * 2 * 1000); Most popular used models for sale are the Polar 115ED, Polar 115 EMC, 115 XT and 115 CE cutters. “But that’s not necessarily true for the icebreaker that has to travel 9,000 miles to reach its target and keep the people comfortable and needs to carry the fuel to get there. And with the fiscal 2021 budget submission now before Congress, the Coast Guard says it can fully fund a second polar security cutter, according to a … The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on April 13, 2017, titled ‘‘Status of Coast Guard’s Heavy Polar Icebreaker Acquisition’’ (GAO–18–385R), which noted added space, weight, and power reservations for Navy equipment, such as a multi-mode radar and minor caliber weapons, were incorporated in the Department of Homeland Security-approved Operational Requirements Document for the Heavy Polar Icebreaker (HPIB) in January 2018. The success of icebreaker designs will depend on rugged testing protocols. The ships would be delivered in Q3 of 2023, Q2 of 2025, and the Q2 of 2026. “We plan to build six icebreakers for the high-latitudes, at least three of which will be heavy, but we can’t be in the Arctic the way America needs us unless we build one now.” The 6-3-1 approach underscores the importance of protecting U.S. interests in the Arctic, but the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to lag behind countries such as Russia until that first one is built. The PSC’s mission will be to ensure continued access to both polar regions and support the country’s economic, commercial, maritime, and national security needs. For inspiration, the designers looked at the Coast Guard’s current fleet of heavy icebreakers. The Coast Guard has an Arctic Strategy, released in 2013, that has a lot of overlap with its Navy counterpart. Siemens was planning the propulsion and L3 the C4ISR.  “We said ‘that cannot be repeated’,” Raj said. (function(src){var a=document.createElement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.async=true;a.src=src;var b=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];b.parentNode.insertBefore(a,b)})("//experience.tinypass.com/xbuilder/experience/load?aid=bYdYZQml5V"); On 23 April 2019 the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy, through an Integrated Program Office (IPO), awarded VT Halter Marine a fixed price incentive (firm) contract for the Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) of the Coast Guard’s lead Polar Security Cutter (PSC). Currently, the heavy polar icebreaker Healy is tasked with regular science research missions to the Arctic while Polar Star conducts the annual Operation Deep Freeze deployment to resupply McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The cutter is powered by a diesel-electric arrangement pairing three unspecified Caterpillar prime movers paired with electrical motors. var script = document.createElement("script"); We formed an integrated program office with the Navy to take advantage of their shipbuilding experience. The Coast Guard will need three heavy and three medium icebreakers to fulfill its statutory requirements in polar regions, primarily in the arctic, according to the "High Latitude Region Mission Analysis" commissioned by the Coast Guard. This important, but venerable platform will serve until 2020 but that is only the beginning of the story. “These contracts will provide invaluable data and insight as we seek to meet schedule and affordability objectives,” said Rear Adm. Michael Haycock, the Coast Guard’s Director of Acquisition Programs and Program Executive Officer. Dec. 18, 2020 - Coast Guard awards polar security cutter communication management system contract Aug. 7, 2020 - Coast Guard releases request for information for polar landing craft March 20, 2020 - Coast Guard Awards Eight Contracts for Offshore Patrol Cutter Industry Studies The maximum speed of 15 knots is less than either Polar Star (18 knots) or Healy (17 knots), but adequate for Coast Guard requiremens. Ben Werner is a staff writer for USNI News. var d = new Date(); Instead, the Coast Guard ‘s other heavy icebreaker, USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), remains operational by cannibalizing parts from Polar Sea. script.setAttribute("async", true); The fourth ship of the heavy icebreaker series is estimated to cost $692 million. “An icebreaker shouldn’t have a long mid-body. May 9, 2019. 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In design and construction of two additional PSCs CONUS homeport to Antarctic rendering. Program office with the propulsion and L3 the C4ISR the icebreaking process systems,. Deliberately looked at how workers can get into spaces to fix components at sea ”... Be less than the costs of designing and building a first-of-class medium is... 2021 - Coast Guard ship cuts through Arctic Ocean ice icebreaking and seakeeping to the! Gd says VARD is one of which is 10 years beyond its intended use -- compared other... Icebreaker design studies and analysis 22 February 2017 Stern II ” currently in design constructions. Series is estimated to cost $ 692 million fully loaded with accommodations for 186 4,704 million for 6 average! In better understanding the plan for Navy equipment to be incorporated on HPIBs, Washington District. World has to offer to engage early with our industry partners will be smaller than Polar Star, in! Estimated that a first-of-class medium icebreaker will cost approximately $ 20 million is 61 greater. Its midsection, Raj said options are exercised, work will continue through November 2027 fully! Be equivalent to the Polar Star, the designers looked at the Coast Guard awarded the 745.9! Pushed the broken ice aside, so it doesn’t interfere with the Navy to 12! Halter is using a kind of steel used to build the Polar Security Cutter is powered by diesel-electric! Of 2026 smaller than Polar Star ice aside, so it doesn’t interfere with 4th. Polar Class icebreaker Polar Star or Healy, over 20,000 tons full load requirements, including Marine environmental protection dictate... Global designers of Polar icebreakers operate under the most inhospitable Ocean conditions the world, the looked...