Results tagged “icebreakers” from Innovations

Is a New Icebreaker on the Horizon?

September 26, 2008 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Caitlin Webber, CQ Staff

A Senate Democratic economic stimulus plan unveiled Thursday would provide the Coast Guard with $925 million for the construction of a new polar ice-breaking ship.

Will this icebreaker be a ship of the past?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Appropriations Chairman Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., promote building a new icebreaker to bolster the U.S.'s stake in the oil-rich polar region, among other energy and environmental measures in their $56.2 billion plan.

Tags: Caitlin Webber, Coast Guard, icebreakers

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Aging Icebreaker Fleet May Mean U.S. Loses Arctic Opportunities

July 22, 2008 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Caitlin Webber, CQ Staff

ice breaker.jpg

As sea ice continues its retreat from the North Pole this summer, many see America's stake in contested and resource-rich region growing. But the head of the U.S. Coast Guard says access to new polar opportunities is threatened by an aging and inadequate Arctic fleet.

Coast Guard photo of the Cutter Healy
in the Arctic Circle, July, 2000

"While U.S. strategic interests in the Arctic region expand, both domestically and internationally, our polar icebreaking capability is at risk." Thad W. Allen, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, told lawmakers on July 16. "I am concerned that we are watching our nation's domestic and international ice breaking capability decline as reliance on foreign icebreakers grows."

Tags: Arctic, Caitlin Webber, Coast Guard, icebreakers

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