US Coast Guard secures approval to build country’s first polar security cutter

The US Coast Guard/US Navy Integrated Program Office has received approval for the construction of the nation’s first polar security cutter (PSC). 

The PSC is the first heavy polar icebreaker constructed in the United States in more than five decades. The work will be performed by Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the prime contractor for the design and construction of the future PSC fleet.

This decision continues work that has been underway since the summer of 2023 as part of an innovative approach to shorten the delivery timeline of these national assets, according to the US Coast Guard.

To remind, in July 2023, Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding began cutting steel on the first prototype module that will become the foundation of a new polar security cutter. Up to eight modules will be constructed in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to prototype the shipbuilding processes and techniques that will be used when production of the first PSC begins.

The approval incorporates these eight prototype fabrication assessment units (PFAUs) that are currently underway or planned. The PFAU effort was structured as a progressive crawl-walk-run approach to help the shipbuilder strengthen skills across the workforce and refine construction methods before full-rate production begins.

“The PFAU process has prepared the government and the shipbuilder to begin full-scale production of the PSC class, resulting in more precise, cost-effective and reliable construction processes,” the US Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard’s operational polar icebreaking fleet currently consists of one heavy icebreaker, the 121.6-meter US Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, which was commissioned in 1976, and one medium icebreaker, the 128-meter US Coast Guard cutter Healy, which was commissioned in 1999.

The service recently acquired a commercially available polar icebreaker to provide additional presence and mission capability in the Arctic. A contract was awarded to Offshore Service Vessels for the purchase of a commercially available polar icebreaker to supplement mission readiness and capability in the polar regions.

The firm-fixed-price deal, with a total value of $125.0 million, includes delivery and reactivation of the M/V Aiviq, a 109.7-meter US-built polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker.

The agreement also includes provisions for technical data, spares, necessary modifications, certifications, crew training, and operational readiness activities.

The Coast Guard mission demand in the polar regions is growing as environmental and economic activities continue to increase. It has identified a need for new polar icebreakers to assure year-round access to the polar regions and to provide self-rescue capabilities.