On Tuesday, U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska) today applauded the official announcement by the Coast Guard (USCG) that a commercial icebreaker will be homeported in Juneau. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda L. Fagan, who is currently traveling with the senators in Alaska, had previously committed to the senators that the icebreaker would be homeported in Juneau. However, until now, the decision was not made final.
The Coast Guard is acquiring the Aiviq, a U.S.-registered ship originally built to serve as an Arctic oil exploration support vessel. Following modification, it has an icebreaking capability sufficient to serve as a Coast Guard medium polar icebreaker.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced last Wednesday that it would homeport a commercially procured icebreaker in Juneau.
The United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, which is on its second life extension, is currently undergoing repairs in California. America’s one medium icebreaker, the Healy, recently suffered an engine fire and is in the process of returning to port for repairs. Russia has 55 icebreakers and is in the process of building more. By 2025, China, which has no sovereignty over any Arctic waters, is set to surpass the United States’ icebreaker fleet. The Alaska congressional delegation has long since recognized this as a competitive disadvantage in the Arctic and advocated for additional resources to bolster the USCG icebreaker fleet.
The Coast Guard section of the FY 2024 Homeland Security Appropriations Act allocated $125 million to purchase the medium icebreaker so that the USCG could use it. This funding is a result of over four years of advocacy by both Senators and engagement over the span of two administrations with senior leaders in the USCG, Department of Homeland Security, National Security Council, Office of Management & Budget, and colleagues in the House of Representatives and Senate.
In March, after years of advocacy, Sullivan and Murkowski successfully secured $125 million to purchase the icebreaker in the FY 2024 Homeland Security Appropriations Act.
“This is an exciting day for Juneau, for Alaska, and for America. I want to commend Admiral Fagan for making this important announcement in our state, among Alaskans, and for keeping her commitment to homeport an icebreaker in Juneau,” said Senator Sullivan. “The need to build up our icebreaking capacity could not be more urgent: Just days ago, the Healy had to abort its summer Arctic patrol due to a fire, and the 50-year-old Polar Star remains out of commission undergoing its own repairs. Our national security interests in the Arctic have also never been more critical, demonstrated by the joint Russian and Chinese naval and air task forces that have operated off Alaska’s coastline these past two years. Since coming to the Senate, I’ve been working relentlessly to wake up our federal government to the strategic importance of this region. The sea change we’ve achieved since 2015 is unprecedented: serious Arctic security strategies from the Department of Defense (DOD) and each of the military services, a new DOD Arctic Security Studies Center at JBER, a new Department of Homeland Security Arctic Domain Awareness Center at UAA, America’s first deep-water Arctic port in Nome, a massive increase in Coast Guard vessels and infrastructure throughout Alaska that I secured working with the previous commandant, and now, an icebreaker will officially be coming to Juneau. We have a lot more work to do, but this is an important milestone and I know that the entire community of Juneau is working hard to prepare for it.”
“This announcement is a long-awaited landmark for Alaska and our nation’s icebreaker fleet, reflecting the simple fact that icebreakers belong in Alaska,” Senator Murkowski said. “Since 2016, I have overseen nearly $2 billion in investment to build out our icebreaking capacity, including the appropriation of $125 million to purchase this vessel and over $1.8 billion for the Polar Security Cutter program, in an effort to bring the United States’ fleet up to par with Arctic and even non-Arctic nations. Homeporting this commercial icebreaker in Juneau is also an acknowledgment of the importance of Alaska’s strategic role in America’s defense, especially as China and Russia increase their presence in the Arctic and encroach upon our borders. My thanks go to Admiral Fagan and the U.S. Coast Guard for working with our congressional delegation to get us to today’s announcement.
Federal appropriations to purchase the ship is just the first step, however. In addition to outfitting the Aivuq to meet Coast Guard specification, more must be done on shoreside infrastructure, housing, and preparing for more Coast Guard families in Juneau and I stand ready to help facilitate that along with the rest of the delegation. As I repeat often, we are an Arctic nation because of Alaska and we require the assets and manpower to fully and competently carry out our mission in the Arctic.”
Senator Sullivan provided specific authorization for the acquisition of the vessel as part of the Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022. That bill also authorized the conveyance of 2.4 acres of waterfront property from NOAA to the Coast Guard to facilitate the icebreaker homeporting in Juneau. That transfer was completed on February 7, 2024. Senator Sullivan also put a hold on certain USCG promotions until the Coast Guard produced a long-promised study on the homeporting of an icebreaker in Alaska—which ultimately recommended Juneau as the preferred homeporting location.
In this year’s budget process, Senator Murkowski further worked to minimize harmful cuts to the Polar Security Cutter (PSC) Program. This program is vital to recapitalizing the USCG’s icebreaker fleet with new assets capable of bolstering essential U.S. national security interests and our presence in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Since FY 2017, Senator Murkowski has overseen $1.88 billion towards the PSC Program.