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Key Points: The U.S. Navy faces a critical shortage of icebreaker ships necessary for year-round Arctic access, a region of increasing geopolitical and economic importance.

-With only two aging icebreakers, including the damaged USCGC Healy, the U.S. lags behind rivals like Russia and China. The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Pact (ICE Pact), signed by the U.S., Canada, and Finland, aims to enhance production, reduce costs, and build closer security ties among allies.

-However, delays and cost overruns, including the Polar Security Cutter program, have hindered progress, threatening the U.S.’s ability to secure its Arctic interests.

As Russia and China Eye the Arctic, U.S. Lacks Critical Icebreaker Fleet

The United States Navy currently operates 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nine cruisers, and around 75 guided-missile destroyers – but it lacks a type of vessel that could be increasingly important should it be required to operate in the Arctic.

Since 2022, the Pentagon has been warning that the U.S. needs more icebreaker ships. The ice may be melting in the great white North, but icebreakers are still required for the U.S. to have year-round access to what is likely to be an increasingly contested region.

The United States Coast Guard – which is part of the Department of Homeland Security not the Department of Defense – currently operates just two aging icebreakers.

The problem was made worse this past summer, when USCGC Healy (WAGB-20), the largest and most technologically advanced icebreaker, was taken out of service due to an electrical fire. That forced the cancelation of two scientific missions to the Arctic via the Northwest Passage. The other icebreaker, USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) – which is like WAGB-20 homeported in Seattle – is tasked to travel to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, annually.

A 2023 study (updated in July 2024) from the Congressional Research Service concluded that the U.S. requires at least eight or nine polar icebreakers. As a stopgap, the Coast Guard announced it would acquire a commercial icebreaker and station it in Juneau, Alaska.

Melting Ice Makes the Problem Worse

This is not entirely a new problem, but it is one that climate change could make worse. In early 2022, the Pentagon warned that it required additional icebreakers, especially as Russia has put renewed interest in the Arctic region.

ARCTIC CIRCLE (Sept. 5, 2017) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) transits the Arctic Circle Sept. 5, 2017. Oscar Austin is on a routine deployment supporting U.S. national security interests in Europe, and increasing theater security cooperation and forward naval presence in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.

The melting ice has opened up new shipping routes that previously didn’t exist, while the region is rich in resources. To protect U.S. interests may require deploying warships to the Arctic – and while the ice is melting, it does return in the winter, necessitating the need for more icebreakers.

“Strategically, icebreakers provide persistent presence in a way that’s not met by anything else in the maritime region,” Randy Kee, who had served as the senior advisor for arctic security affairs with the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, explained in a Pentagon report. “Remember, the Arctic is a maritime region, and icebreaking provides you year-round access to be able to go in the region.”

Without the icebreakers, the U.S. may “not be able to participate in the opportunities opening up or protect its interests,” the DoD further warned.

A major concern is that Russia is partnering with China, including in the Arctic, where Beijing has sought to extend its influence.

“We are seeing more and more activity where Russia and [the] PRC are working together, and the Arctic is the most recent area that we’re seeing that,” explained Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown ahead of a trip to Iceland in October to attend the Arctic Chiefs of Defence Conference, USNI News reported. “It’s something we all need to be paying attention to and to understand what they’re doing together, and is it for some type of positive benefit to the collective whole, or is that something they’re doing to challenge other nations and other interests?”

The ICE Pact

Washington will not have to go it alone in ensuring a free and open Arctic region. On the sidelines of NATO’s 75th Anniversary meeting in July, the U.S., Canada, and Finland announced the formation of the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Pact (ICE Pact).

“[It is a] trilateral arrangement to collaborate on the production of polar icebreakers and other capabilities, alongside United States’ allies and partners, labor, and industry. This collaboration is intended to strengthen the shipbuilding industry and industrial capacity of each nation – and build closer security and economic ties among our countries through information exchange and mutual workforce-development focused on building polar icebreakers, as well as other Arctic and polar capabilities,” the White House announced.

Washington, Ottawa, and Helsinki have pledged to “develop a joint memorandum of understanding that will outline a framework for how this arrangement will be implemented within each country – and a mechanism for adding or including additional allies and partners as participants.”

In the short term, each nation will begin to build icebreakers for domestic use, which could then be employed by allied nations in the Arctic.

“This arrangement will consist of three initial components: enhanced information exchange between the United States, Canada, and Finland; collaboration on workforce development; and an invitation to allies and partners to purchase icebreakers built in American, Canadian, or Finnish shipyards,” the Biden Administration further acknowledged.

As they reach scale, it will reduce the cost of the strategically critical vessels for the three partners and other allies.

Hardly a Polar Express

In April 2019, a contract was awarded to Mississippi-based VT Halter Marine – now Bollinger Shipyards – to build the first of a potential three Polar Security Cutters (PSC).

Progress has been moving at a glacier’s pace at times.

The Coast Guard has faced cost overruns and delays, and the Congressional Budget Office warned this year that the lead vessel, the future USCGC Polar Sentinel, won’t enter service until nearly the end of the decade. The ICE Pact is meant to help address these issues – and ensure that the U.S. will have the tools it needs to operate in a region that could provide new opportunities, yet be the stage for future conflict.

“In the Arctic, new, faster shipping lanes hold the potential to create new economic opportunities and drive down shipping costs. And in the Antarctic, our partnership can also foster increased scientific research and international collaboration,” the White House added.

Of course, getting there is half the challenge – one that icebreakers could help solve!

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Senior Editor focusing on defense issues for 19FortyFive. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,500 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on X: @PeterSuciu – and on Bluesky: @petersuciu.bsky.social.