As the cruise ship Crystal Serenity and her 1,700 passengers and crew began her maiden northerly voyage from Alaska to New York this past week, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft and Arctic Caucus co-chairman Sen. Angus King held engagements in Greenland to personally observe and better understand the changes occurring in the Arctic. Diminishing sea ice is opening the Arctic to human activity, and Greenland’s melting ice sheet is leading to more icebergs and higher sea levels. These changes have implications for the U.S. and international community in various arenas to include mass rescue, pollution response, resource exploitation, human welfare, economic prosperity and national security.
Environmental changes in the polar regions are boosting new economic opportunities and transforming maritime activity in the regions. Access to previously unreachable natural resources is now possible and is encouraging new sovereignty claims by Arctic nations. All this, while eco-tourism is on the rise as the Arctic beckons to the adventurous. In the following video Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft and Arctic Caucus co-chairman Sen. Angus King, discuss the need for additional heavy icebreakers to protect U.S. economic and security interests and to enforce our own sovereignty.
Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update
Essential maritime and offshore news, insights, and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox
The U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaker Healy will not carry out its planned high-latitude Arctic mission this summer following a serious engineering casualty in July, a spokesperson said. The statement provides the clearest indication yet of the impact of the incident on the Coast Guard’s key icebreaker.
U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy suffered a significant engineering casualty during post-refit sea trials off the Washington coast before being towed back to Seattle on July 13 for an investigation and major repairs, the Coast Guard told gCaptain.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s troubled Polar Security Cutter program faces further delays with a new government watchdog report projecting delivery of the first heavy icebreaker in March 2033, almost a decade later than originally planned.
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
