Designing a Maintainable and Sustainable Coast Guard Icebreaker for Arctic and Antarctic Operations

The U.S. Coast Guard is at the start of the process of acquiring a new class of heavy icebreaker. This class will replace the aging Polar Class ice breaker and supplement the medium icebreaker USCGC HEALY, WAGB 20. The Coast Guard must be able to control acquisition and lifecycle cost in acquiring this new class of ship as well as provide for a sustainable ship with minimal environmental impact. The focus of this paper is on the ability to maintain an independent steaming vessel in the remote arctic regions of the globe and how the design of the vessel will dictate much of the logistics support of the operations.