The U.S. Coast Guard unveiled its Arctic Strategic Outlook Implementation Plan on Thursday, outlining a sequence of initiatives geared toward selling security, safety, and stewardship within the Arctic area.
The plan consists of 14 initiatives with motion gadgets that intention to realize the targets set out within the 2019 Arctic Strategic Outlook, which embrace defending rights, supporting the Nationwide Technique for the Arctic Area, and making certain regional security and safety within the area.
One notable motion merchandise within the plan is to develop a technique to doubtlessly purchase a commercially-available icebreaker to enrich the present polar icebreaking cutter capabilities and improve the Coast Guard’s presence within the Arctic within the near-term to handle icebreaking capability gaps.
The U.S. Coast Guard serves because the nation’s lead federal company for homeland safety, security, and environmental stewardship within the Arctic, and is answerable for working and sustaining the federal fleet of icebreakers.
Whereas the Coast Guard has been working within the area for over 150 years, the strategic significance of the Arctic has grown on account of international geopolitical tendencies and local weather change. This has created each financial alternatives and dangers to residents, industrial actions together with delivery, and U.S. nationwide safety. Because the area turns into extra accessible, the Coast Guard’s management and presence within the area will change into more and more essential.
To extend its presence and capabilities within the area, the Coast Guard’s three-vessel Polar Safety Cutter (PSC) program has been a prime precedence for the service. At the moment, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Polar Star (heavy polar icebreaker) and Healy (medium polar icebreaker) are the nation’s solely operational polar icebreakers. Whereas development of the Coast Guard’s first Polar Safety Cutter prototype is underway at Bollinger Shipyards, supply of the primary icebreaker just isn’t anticipated till no less than 2027.
Strategic Outlooks assist to information long-term planning efforts and set up strains of effort to realize the Service’s overarching targets. Different initiatives included within the Arctic implementation plan embrace enhancing Arctic operations and workouts, increasing floor and aviation capabilities, bettering communications and maritime area consciousness, preserving U.S. management within the Arctic Council, modernizing transportation techniques, strengthening environmental preparedness and response, selling Arctic research and coverage, fostering a tradition of Arctic innovation, strategic communication, and formalizing the U.S. Coast Guard polar enterprise.
For inspiration on including secondhand icebreaking capability, the Coast Guard might wish to look to the Canadian Coast Guard which just lately devoted the third medium icebreaker out of the three that it bought secondhand from the industrial market in 2018.
