President Obama Wants More Heavy Icebreakers

By Roberta Rampton

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept 1 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed a sooner timetable for getting a brand new heavy icebreaker for the U.S. Arctic, the place shortly melting sea ice has spurred extra maritime site visitors and the United States has fallen far behind Russian sources.

The transfer, a part of a push to persuade Americans to help Obama’s plans to curb local weather change, has lengthy been urged by Arctic advocates as local weather change opens up the area to extra delivery, mining and oil drilling.

The announcement got here as Obama heads to the coastal city of Seward, named after Secretary of State William Seward, who negotiated the acquisition of Alaska in 1867 from Russia.

In step one of Obama’s new timetable, the federal government would purchase a heavy icebreaker by 2020 as a substitute of the earlier objective of 2022. The United States used to have seven icebreakers, however the fleet has dwindled to a few creaky vessels, solely considered one of which is a heavy-duty vessel, the White House mentioned.

“Russia, on the other hand, has 40 icebreakers and another 11 planned or under construction,” it mentioned.

Obama must persuade Congress to select up the tab for any new icebreakers, every of which include a price ticket of about $1 billion.

“The devil, as always, will be in the funding and procurement details,” mentioned Heather Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, who has studied the necessity for extra Arctic icebreakers.

The area additionally wants enhanced navigation aids, satellite tv for pc communications, deep water ports and different associated investments not talked about within the White House announcement, Conley famous.

At a time of dwindling big-ticket weapons packages, Obama’s announcement lays the groundwork for the U.S. Coast Guard to launch a contest to construct a brand new icebreaker.

“Great powers should have the capabilities for playing a role in the theater,” mentioned Malte Humpert, the pinnacle of the Arctic Institute, a suppose tank. “Russia is ready for anything that happens in the Arctic, and China is getting ready to have those capabilities,” he mentioned.

As the Arctic opens to extra delivery, tourism and oil drilling, the United States dangers not having sufficient capability to hold out search and rescue and oil spill response missions.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, which constructed the latest U.S. ice breaker and delivered it in 1999, mentioned it was eager to bid on new hardened ships for the Coast Guard.

General Dynamics Corp, the opposite giant U.S. navy shipbuilder and a potential bidder in an ice breaker competitors, had no fast remark.

The firm that constructed the opposite present U.S. icebreakers, Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction, has exited the enterprise and its shipyard was shut down in 1988.

It often takes as much as 10 years to construct an icebreaker, and it was not instantly clear when any proposed new vessel is likely to be prepared.

The White House additionally mentioned the federal government ought to begin planning for added vessels. The Coast Guard has beforehand advisable it wants eight icebreakers, though no administration finances has but included the large funding request.

The Coast Guard had no fast remark concerning the White House push. (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal and Timothy Gardner in Washington, and Steve Quinn in Juneau, Alaska; Editing by Alan Crosby and Dan Grebler)