US Coast Guard Operates Two Polar Icebreakers in Arctic Simultaneously For First Time in More Than a Decade

U.S. polar icebreakers Healy and recently acquired Storis are currently operating to the north of the Aleutian Island chain in the American Arctic. This marks the first time since spring 2013 that the Coast Guard has deployed two icebreakers to the region at the same time. 

Based on AIS data the two vessels briefly met up around 100 nautical miles northeast of Unalaska. They were also joined Alex Haley, a medium endurance cutter. Healy is now steaming north to continue its annual Arctic science mission with Storis expected in Dutch Harbor by August 27.

The newly commissioned Storis arrived in the Arctic from Juneau after a stopover in Seward. Meanwhile Healy is returning to the High Arctic after a visit to Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. 

As the Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet has diminished since the retirement of older vessels in the 1970s and 1980s Arctic patrols by multiple vessels have become increasingly rare. In 2013 the then newly-reactivated Polar Star was conducting sea trials in the Bering Sea while Healy was on its Arctic West summer mission. Previous instances came in 2006 and 2008 when missions by Polar Sea and Healy to the Arctic overlapped. 

Though it is important to note that Coast Guard national security cutters also routinely patrol Arctic waters during the ice-free season. Coast Guard Cutter Munro returned last month from a 20,000-nautical-mile, 121-day deployment to the Bering Sea. Newly commissioned Sentinel-class cutter Earl Cunningham also recently arrived at its homeport of Kodiak.

The Coast Guard acquired Storis less than nine months ago and readied it for its first Arctic patrol ahead of schedule, though questions about the vessel’s capabilities and suitability remain. In December 2024 officials had indicated the vessel would not be ready for Arctic service until summer 2026.

“CGC Storis was acquired to bolster these operations, providing near-term operational presence and supporting national strategic imperatives in the Arctic region as a bridging strategy for surface presence,” the Coast Guard said in a statement at Storis’ commissioning.

In recent weeks the Coast Guard has been monitoring unprecedented Chinese activity in the waters to the north of Alaska.

The presence of Healy and Storis is a welcome sight in a region of growing maritime activity and geopolitical interests. But it is going to be several more years before the Coast Guard will place into service much-needed Polar and Arctic Security Cutters.

“The U.S. might be an Arctic nation but decades of taking their eye off the prize are coming home to roost – and the next decade is certainly not going to be smooth sailing in the contested maritime domain. No matter the policy commitment, Washington simply can’t magic capability overnight,” says Elizabeth Buchanan, a polar geopolitics expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

The first Polar Security Cutter, under construction in Mississippi, is at least five years from service entry. The medium-size Arctic Security Cutter could potentially be ready within three years with the help of Finnish and Canadian shipyards. 

But last year’s ICE pact, a trilateral partnership between the United States, Canada and Finland, to bolster shipbuilding has yet to yield quantifiable results. A number of consortia involving American, Canadian and Finnish shipbuilders have thrown their hats in the ring, but no contracts have been signed.

“Where is the ICE Pact? Why aren’t we cutting steel today?” asks Buchanan.

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