Posted on 11/14/2024 4:08:00 PM PST by artichokegrower
Commercial Polar icebreaker Aiviq will join the U.S Coast Guard inventory before the end of the calendar year, officials announced during a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill. The service had requested $125m for FY2024 to acquire the Aiviq from Offshore Service Vessels, part of Edison Chouest Offshore, but few updates on the status of the endeavor had been announced.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
I guess we don’t build ships here much anymore.
https://maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-coast-guard-plans-to-buy-the-commercial-icebreaker-aiviq
The U.S Coast Guard is finally moving to acquire the icebreaking offshore vessel Aiviq from Edison Chouest in order to fill a growing capability gap.
Chouest and several members of Congress asked the Coast Guard to purchase the Aiviq in 2015-16, but the Coast Guard previously declined, arguing that the vessel “was not suitable for military service without substantial refit.” In what now appears to be a change of plans, the Coast Guard has issued a public notice that it will enter into a sole-source contract to buy Chouest’s icebreaker.
Alaska U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R.-Alaska) and Representative Mary Peltola (D.-Alaska) today announced that they have successfully secured federal funding for the purchase of a commercially available Icebreaker by the U.S. Coast Guard. Though the legislators did not state the name of the icebreaker, the most frequently mentioned candidate vessel has been Edison Chouest Offshore’s M/V Aiviq. Back in May 2022, the Coast Guard issued an RFI seeking to identify commercial vessels available for purchase that were constructed at a U.S. shipyard and are capable of operating in or around the Arctic. The USCG said in the RFI that was looking to identify commercial vessels available for purchase in 2023 or 2024 and meeting requirements that, essentially, made the Aiviq appear to be the only possible choice.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/august/forget-aiviq-give-polar-sea-another-chance
There is a better option: Bring back the USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11). Rather than spending $150 million to buy plus untold millions more to modify the Aiviq, the Coast Guard should spend roughly $250 million revitalizing the Polar Sea and regain one of the most capable icebreakers in the world.
I am suspicious. (Sounds like a Vodka brand. Which is a Russian drink. Which means its a Russian support ship. Who are in the Arctic. Who support Trump. Who doesn’t believe in sea ice melting. Who employs Elin Musk. For free. Who launches NASA satellites. Which cover the Arctic. .. .. )
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