Coast Guard Awards $173.7 Million for New Polar Cutter Berths in Seattle

The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a $173.7 million contract to continue a major modernization of Base Seattle, including new berthing infrastructure intended to support the service’s future Polar Security Cutters.

The contract, awarded to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company by the Coast Guard’s Facilities Design and Construction Center, covers Phase 1B of the project. Work includes construction of a new pier at Slip 36B, structural improvements, dredging, and utility and electrical upgrades.

Phase 1B will also provide two modernized major cutter berths capable of hosting Polar Security Cutters.

“Modernizing Base Seattle is critical to ensuring our Coast Guard has the infrastructure required to support the next generation of cutters and the missions they will perform in the Arctic and across the Pacific,” said Vice Commandant Adm. Thomas G. Allan Jr.

The award is funded through fiscal year 2025 budget reconciliation funding.

Base Seattle is a key Coast Guard hub in the Pacific Northwest, supporting cutter operations, maintenance, logistics and personnel assigned to regional and national missions.

The latest contract follows the first phase of the modernization effort awarded in September 2025. That work, known as Phase 1A, is now 26% complete. Phases 1A and 1B remain scheduled for completion in fiscal year 2029, while Phase 1C is still in planning.

The Coast Guard said the first three phases are expected to be completed in 2030, positioning Base Seattle to support the arrival of the first Polar Security Cutter. That timeline, however, is now well ahead of the latest government estimate for the ship itself.

A Government Accountability Office report released in July projected delivery of the first Polar Security Cutter in March 2033, nearly a decade later than originally planned, and warned that unresolved construction and workforce risks could push the schedule even further.

The lead vessel is now expected to cost about $3.4 billion, while total funding for the three-ship program has climbed above $6 billion. The GAO estimates the program will not reach full operational capability until 2039.

The Polar Security Cutter is intended to replace the aging Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s only operational heavy icebreaker, which entered service in 1976.

When the Base Seattle modernization is fully completed, the project is expected to provide four major cutter berths for the Coast Guard’s growing surface fleet and infrastructure to support future Arctic and Antarctic operations.

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