Unalaska, AK - Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski today introduced the bipartisan Icebreaker Recapitalization Act with Washington’s Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell that would authorize the U.S. Navy to construct up to 6 heavy icebreakers. 

The new icebreakers would be designed and operated by the US Coast Guard, currently the sole service responsible for icebreaking missions.

In a press release, Senator Murkowski said “America must be a global leader towards an Arctic future.”  Murkowski said constructing US icebreakers was imperative from a military perspective.  But she also called the effort a “down payment on an Arctic future.”

According to the Coast Guard High Latitude Study released to Congress four years ago, the United States needs six heavy duty and four medium icebreakers to meet the statutory and mission requirements of the Coast Guard and the Navy. 

Currently the United States lags behind Russia China, Canada and even India in developing icebreaking capabilities.

The US has only two operational icebreakers including the heavy Polar Star and the medium-duty Healy, which was designed for scientific research.