U.S. Icebreaker Fleet Cut in Half
· By Helmut Portmann
A breakdown aboard the Coast Guard cutter Healy exposes the U.S. icebreaker fleet’s vulnerability as Russia and China expand their Arctic ambitions.
Here’s a Fox News headline from two days ago:
That’s right – the US Coast Guard’s Ice Breaker Fleet has just been cut in half due to a “significant engineering casualty” onboard the Cutter Healy – one of only TWO large icebreakers that the US has operational to compete with Russia and China in a race to dominate the Arctic.
So how many icebreakers does Russia have? Anywhere from 57 to 85, depending on how they are counted. Of those, 57 are classed as major ice breakers that are as capable of or much more capable than the two that the U.S. has.
Oh, and eight of those are nuclear-powered, with virtually unlimited endurance. Our, of course, are conventionally powered.
What about China? They currently operate five icebreaking research vessels, but there are reports that they are ramping up production of more and have plans to build one or more nuclear ice breakers. Recently they sent a number of these to cruise dangerously close to U.S. northern territory – and they are just getting started.
The U.S. is now scrambling to build new ice breakers, but we are playing catch-up, instead of leading with this important asset required to compete in an increasingly contested Arctic for oil, gas, minerals (including rare earth metals), and trade.
Read the fourth book in the Alex Beck series titled “TARGET: Svalbard” to see one thrilling scenario of how thing may unfold in the Arctic in the coming years.