Fire cripples one of U.S. Coast Guard’s two icebreakers

One of the U.S. Coast Guard’s two functional icebreakers is out of action after an electrical fire last week, officials said in a statement Tuesday, further limiting America’s capability to operate in the Arctic.

Officials said the Coast Guard Cutter Healy suffered a fire in one of the ship’s main propulsion motors on Aug. 18 while sailing off the coast of Alaska. The Healy recently finished a 26-day patrol as part of Operation Arctic Shield before returning to Seward, Alaska, and officials said the ship was headed back to the Arctic “to ensure national security and conduct science operations” when the fire broke out.

While the blaze was extinguished within 30 minutes, officials said the Arctic mission has now been scrapped and the ship is returning to its homeport of Seattle for inspection and repair.

“I commend the crew of the Healy for their quick actions to safely combat the fire,” said Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander. “This casualty, however, means that the United States is limited in icebreaking capability until the Healy can be repaired, and it highlights the nation’s critical need for polar security cutters.”

Indeed, with the Healy out of service the U.S. has just one functional icebreaker, the Polar Star. The U.S. fleet also includes another icebreaker that has been nonoperational for several years.

Russia, on the other hand, has about 40 icebreakers in its fleet. That capability is central to Moscow’s plan to project power across the Arctic, establish new shipping lanes, extract energy resources, and conduct other missions in the icy waters.

China also has made huge investments in icebreakers as it seeks to become a major player in the Arctic.

Military officials and political leaders in Washington are fully aware of the problem. In June, for example, President Trump directed his administration to develop a comprehensive plan to give the U.S. a full polar icebreaking fleet by 2029.

“To help protect our national interests in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and to retain a strong Arctic security presence alongside our allies and partners, the United States requires a ready, capable, and available fleet of polar security icebreakers that is operationally tested and fully deployable by fiscal year 2029,” the president said in a June order.

The order called on the federal government to identify two new bases for the fleet. As an interim step, Mr. Trump also ordered federal agencies to look into leasing options from “partner nations” as a bridge to a permanent U.S. fleet.