CQ Today | Icebreakers Protected From Decommissioning Under Coast Guard Bill

The Coast Guard reauthorization bill advanced by the Senate over the weekend reverses House-passed language that would have forced the service to decommission two of its three icebreakers. Indeed, the new language would bar the agency from doing away with those vessels.

When the House began consideration of the legislation (HR 2838) last fall, lawmakers in charge of Coast Guard issues homed in on a section that have would have mandated the decommissioning of its only two heavy-duty icebreakers. The language had gone largely unnoticed until floor debate, so House legislators concerned about the requirement opted to let the measure move forward while they talked over changes with Senate leaders.

As leaders from both sides of the aisle began to look into the issue, they said the order to decommission the ships seemed odd considering the Coast Guard was halfway through a rehabilitation project expected to give one of its icebreakers up to another decade in service life. And Coast Guard Commandant Adm.RobertJ. Papp told Congress that, if enacted, the language would inhibit his service’s ability to protect U.S. interests in the Arctic.

Robert B. Aderholt, R-Ala., chairman of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, said that after a briefing on work being done to the icebreakers, it seemed obvious that the better financial decision would be to allow the Coast Guard to continue retrofitting its Polar Star icebreaker while working on a long-term plan.

In Seattle, crews are almost done refurbishing the Polar Star, taking some parts from the vessel’s sister ship, the Polar Sea, which suffered critical engine failure and will likely remain indefinitely unseaworthy.

The version of the Coast Guard reauthorization the Senate passed Sept. 22 would require that the ships’ home port remain in Seattle and would prohibit the service from transferring, dismantling, recycling or giving away either of the more-than-40-year-old vessels. It also would bar the Coast Guard from taking any parts from the Polar Sea unless they will be installed in thePolar Star and the agency can certify to Congress that it is not possible for the rebuilt ship to function without snagging those parts.

It is unclear whether there will be objections to the new Senate language if the bill makes its way back to the House floor. Criticism could come from lawmakers such as Don Young, R-Alaska, who has pushed for the Coast Guard to rent icebreakers, rather than continuing to spend money fixing up its aging fleet.

The Coast Guard currently has only one operational icebreaker, a 13-year-old medium-weight ship called the Healy, which the agency shares with the National Science Foundation. The Healywas sent to the Arctic this summer while Shell Oil Co. readies oil drilling sites off Alaska’s North Slope.