Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy Visits North Pole amid Arctic Activity

• Healy, an icebreaker from the US Coast Guard, made a rare visit to the North Pole at end September.
• Healy is one the only Coast Guard icebreakers, and both are getting older.
• US officials warn that the US is losing ground to the Chinese and Russian icebreaker fleets.

The US Coast Guard’s largest ship — the icebreaker Healy — reached the North Pole on September 30 on what was only the second unaccompanied trip there by a US ship.

You will enjoy a more enjoyable trip. Concerns about Arctic military activityThe region is home to climate change, which makes waterways more accessible. Perceptions An icebreaker gapThis is a serious concern as US officials have warned that the two US vessels, which are now aging, are far from the Russian or Chinese fleets.

Since its inception, 1999, Healy has been to the North Pole three more times. In 2015, it was the first US ship to unaccompanied reach the pole. The icebreaker made its latest voyage to the pole as part of an oceanographic mission lasting months. It left Alaska in September and continued research.

Healy’s commanding Officer, Capt. Kenneth Boda said that it was a “rare chance” and a “highlight of our Coast Guard careers.”

According to the Coast Guard, the trip also supported US national security goals for the Arctic region by projecting an ongoing ice-capable US presence within US Arctic waters and patrolling the maritime border with Russia.

These objectives were highlighted by the Biden administration, as well as the role of icebreakers in its national strategy to the Arctic. This strategy was released this month in order to update the Arctic Strategy released in 2013.

The strategy identified security as the first of its four core pillars. This emphasised the need for increased awareness and detection “to track and detect potential airborne and marine threats” in Arctic.

The document also states, “This includes expanding US Coast Guard icebreaker Fleet to support persistent presence within the US Arctic and additional presence when needed in Europe Arctic.”

‘Absolutely priority’

Healy, the largest US Coast Guard ship, can break through 4.5 feet worth of ice at 3 knots. Healy’s opposite, Polar Star is smaller, but it can break 6 feet of Ice at 3 knots.

Both ships are getting older. Healy was forced to retire for several months. A fire in the engine room on August 20, 2020. Polar Star was first in service in 1976. Repairing it is becoming more difficultIt will get more than its 30-year service-life. (The icebreaker Polar Sea was built alongside Polar Star in 2010 and has been out of service since 2010. It is now being used as a spare part.

Current and FormerUS officials often contrastThe status of Icebreakers in the USAWith the many that Russia has built or operates, and the two that China is currently operating, In serviceIn 2019. China In 2021It had planned to build a heavy icebreaker in the late 2020s.

“It’s like Russia has 40 icebreakers. We have one,” Sen. Angus King (a senatorial member of Senate Armed Services Committee) said. CNNThis month is likely to refer to Polar Star, America’s only heavy-icebreaker.

Experts They were strongly resistedWe cite the different roles and capabilities of these icebreakers.

“The notion that Russia is losing an Arctic race and that you can measure it with icebreakers in Arctic is a fallacy,” Rebecca Pincus (director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Polar Institute) stated during an online conference in March.

Russia has one of the most extensive Arctic investments and is home to the world’s largest nuclear-powered icebreakers.

Pincus noted that Russia’s icebreakers are primarily designed for commercial use rather than military purposes. Not all of them are suitable for Arctic operations. While the US Coast Guard does not support daily commercial shipping, Pincus said, “so we are comparing different activities here.” “The US Coast Guard does need more icebreakers, however.

Adm. Linda Fagan, Coast Guard commandant, stated that building the capacity and capability for “enduring presence” is “absolutely essential.” She spoke to lawmakers in July.

The service is building three new polar security cutters. These will be heavy icebreakers (like Polar Star) and it plans to make at least three medium-sized icebreakers (like Healy). Fagan explained that it is currently working on “detail design” for the first ship. The second ship will be built using “long-lead materials”, but delivery has slipped to mid-2025.

Fagan explained to lawmakers that a polar security cutter has not been constructed since mid-’70s, when both Polar Sea (and Polar Star) were built. It is difficult to build. 

Fagan indicated that the Coast Guard is interested in acquiring a commercial-icebreaker for its short-term needs.

The US and other navies Are you spending more time in ArcticHowever, icebreakers are likely to remain the only ship capable of maintaining consistent operations in the area, even as it warms.

Boda explained that the Arctic is hard to know where it will be. It also changes throughout the year.

Boda spoke with reporters Healy had made a round-the-North American trip after he had passed through the Arctic..

Healy was able to “skirt” around the ice because it was late summer, but there was still ice, Boda stated. “A traditional ship would not have been able to do what we did. This is certain.