Congressman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has introduced a bill to establish a fund to bring more icebreakers into the U.S. fleet. The legislation would create the National Icebreaker Fund.
The fund would “pay the costs of construction, alteration, renovation, lease or charter of icebreakers.”
An independent analysis released in February of this year recommended that the Coast Guard needs three heavy and three medium icebreakers to cover the anticipated needs of the U.S. in the Arctic and Antarctic. For now, the Coast Guard operates two icebreakers — the medium icebreaker Healy and the heavy icebreaker Polar Star.
