Coast Guard Considering Up To 4 More Icebreakers for Alaska, Commandant Tells Sullivan

WASHINGTON- Today, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, convened a hearing examining the Coast Guard's presence in the Arctic, where he received confirmation from Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday that Alaska could receive up to four of the eleven Arctic Security Cutters announced as part of the U.S.-Finland Icebreaker Agreement and the ICE Pact. Funding for at least three Arctic Security Cutters, and the infrastructure to support them, was appropriated in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (WFTCA), the largest investment in U.S. Coast Guard history-$25 billion, which passed last year through budget reconciliation. In addition to the icebreakers, Admiral Lunday reiterated that Alaska is on pace to receive many other Coast Guard assets secured by Sen. Sullivan through his work with the Coast Guard and his colleagues in Congress since joining the Senate.

As chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee overseeing the Coast Guard, Sen. Sullivan played a key role in securing the Coast Guard's historic investment, which included $300 million to support shoreside infrastructure for the homeporting of the USCGC Storis in Juneau, and allocated funding for 16 new icebreakers, 22 new cutters, more than 40 new helicopters, and $4.379 billion to repair docks, hangars, and shore facilities. Since taking office in 2015, Sen. Sullivan has made strengthening the Coast Guard's presence in Alaska a top priority-reversing a period when the Coast Guard's footprint in Alaska and the Arctic was due to shrink-by consistently pushing for increased funding and highlighting Alaska's vast coastal geography and the life-saving missions the Coast Guard carries out across the state.

Click here to watch the full committee hearing.

"It's time, in my view, for the Coast Guard to do more with more, and that's what we're able to do in this budget reconciliation bill," Sen. Sullivan said in his opening statement. "The numbers the Coast Guard needs are historic in that $25 billion: 16 new icebreakers. By the way, we have two, one is broken, and the Russians have 54. It's time to close that icebreaker gap. We have almost $4.5 billion to repair and replace shoreside facilities and aging infrastructure. 22 new Coast Guard cutters, including OPCs and FRCs. 40 new helicopters, mostly H-60s. Six new C-130J aircraft. This is, as I mentioned, the biggest investment in Coast Guard history.

"The Coast Guard is being asked to do more across every theater: counter drug missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, complex law enforcement actions against sanctioned dark fleet tankers, sustained operations in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East, search-and-rescue, and combating illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing, what we call IUU fishing. At the same time, they must manage operational risk while transitioning from platforms that, as I mentioned, are decades beyond their intended service lives.

"Nowhere is the need for this investment clearer and more prominent than in the Arctic. Just months ago, I was with Admiral Lunday, where, for the first time ever, we commissioned and started to homeport an American icebreaker where the ice is: in Alaska. The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, the Storis, designated to be homeported in Juneau, Alaska, represents a generational investment in the Coast Guard and our national security. It also marks a long overdue shift in how the United States approaches the Arctic-not as a distant afterthought, but as a core strategic domain."

Sen. Sullivan pressed Admiral Lunday for the Coast Guard's plans and decision timeline for homeporting the new icebreakers, specifically the possibility of homeporting additional vessels in Alaska.

"Mr. Chairman, as I've told the team in December, when I asked them to develop options, they develop options," Admiral Lunday said. "One of the first ones that I want them to present, among a range of options for consideration [and] decision, [to] me in consultation with Secretary Noem is for homeporting up to four icebreakers in Alaska. So, although we are still pending a decision, that's clear guidance I've given to the team."

In his testimony, Admiral Lunday also expressed his support for expanding the shipbuilding capacity in Alaska as the shipbuilding industry grows in the state, particularly in Seward, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Lunday reiterated that federal cooperation with private companies to build and maintain ships will help provide greater cost efficiency for the Coast Guard. Lunday also committed to upholding one of the U.S. Coast Guard's most critical missions: combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing that is ravaging fish stocks in Alaska, especially by Chinese and Russian fleets. Sen. Sullivan recently secured the Senate's unanimous passage of his Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act to combat IUU fishing by blacklisting offending vessels from U.S. ports and waters, bolstering the U.S. Coast Guard's enforcement capabilities and partnerships, and advancing international and bilateral negotiations to achieve enforceable agreements and treaties.

Below is an overview of Sen. Sullivan's work to bring more Coast Guard assets, personnel, vessels, infrastructure, and investments to Alaska.

Securing U.S. Coast Guard Construction and Infrastructure Funding for Alaska Installations : Since 2015, Congress has appropriated about $1.408 billion for infrastructure and construction-related projects in Alaska to support new and existing Coast Guard assets, giving many communities throughout Alaska significant investments in their infrastructure and local housing.

Securing Historic Investments in America's Icebreaker Fleet : Sen. Sullivan led the charge to rebuild America's polar icebreaking capacity-an urgent national priority as adversaries expand their presence in the Arctic. Through the FY 2025 budget reconciliation bill, he secured $4.3 billion for the procurement of two new Polar Security Cutters, with substantial progress toward a third, marking the most significant expansion of heavy icebreaking capability in U.S. history. He also worked to deliver $3.5 billion to procure three Arctic Security Cutters, the nation's next-generation medium polar icebreakers. Additionally, he championed $816 million for more than ten new light and medium domestic icebreaking cutters, $1 billion for approximately 10 Fast Response Cutters (FRC), $4.3 billion for approximately 9 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC), $2.2 billion for approximately 40 MH-60 helicopters, and $1.1 billion for approximately 6 HC-130 aircraft.

Expanding Coast Guard Presence Across Alaska & Modernizing Coast Guard Infrastructure in Alaska : Sen. Sullivan worked relentlessly to grow the Coast Guard's operational footprint across Alaska, ensuring cutters are homeported where they are needed most. He helped secure six Fast Response Cutters for Ketchikan, Kodiak, Seward, and Sitka; two Offshore Patrol Cutters for Kodiak; the homeporting of the USCGC icebreaker Storis in Juneau; a Waterways Commerce Cutter for Petersburg; and an 87-foot patrol boat for Valdez. These strategically placed assets dramatically expand maritime safety, security, and response capability across the state's vast coastline.

Senator Sullivan has driven record federal investment into the Coast Guard's Alaska infrastructure to support the service's growing operational demands. This includes major upgrades in:

· Kodiak: $202 million for OPC and FRC homeports; $147.2 million for family housing, $40 million Child Development Center, $145 million for a new fuel pier; and $5 million to repurpose an aircraft hangar for MH-60 helicopter operations.

· Seward: $50 million for an FRC homeport and shoreside support facilities, $13.5 million in initial funding to address housing needs.

· Sitka: $65.9 million for an FRC homeport and WLB pier, and $6 million in initial funding to address housing needs.

· Ketchikan: $7.1 million for the FRC homeport.

· Juneau: $300 million for a new, modern Coast Guard pier to support expanded Arctic and Pacific operations.

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