Lots of interesting things involving the Coast Guard happening lately. Recommend this report from The War Zone. Two tankers seized in one day thousands of miles apart, one reportedly protected by a Russian submarine.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Storis (WAGB 21) Is underway in Mobile, Alabama, May 23, 2025. Storis conducted sea trials 20 miles off Petit Bois in the Gulf of America. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Grace McBryde)
Below is a story from MyCG. It is also a report of sorts on how the purchase of a 13 year old commercial design is working and it sounds promising. It is also the first report I have seen of the Coast Guard’s use of a hybrid crew, part military, part civilian, though the Navy has been doing it for time.
For background on this ship and domestic commercial icebreakers in general:
By Kathy Murray, Senior Writer, MyCG
Petty Officer 1st Class Erica Libbing leaned into the wind on the flybridge of the CGC Storis, camera raised, Arctic air biting at her gloves. It was mid-September, and just off the bow, two Chinese icebreakers—Jidi and Xue Long 2—cut through the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. As part of the cutter’s Viper Team, Libbing was there to film the transit, ensuring the vessels weren’t doing anything they shouldn’t.
“I’d never done that type of surveillance before,” Libbing said. “It was kind of cool to see how it was going to go.”
It was also not part of the plan. Storis’ first patrol, which began last summer, was supposed to be primarily a training mission. The ship was still being outfitted and the crew still learning its systems. But when the cutter proved capable sooner than expected, leadership was ready to take a calculated risk and employ it operationally in the Arctic.
“Getting into the ice and having a national-level impact on that first patrol was a big deal,” said Capt. Corey Kerns, Storis’ commanding officer. “It was an unprecedented opportunity and operational risk decision for a new ship and crew, and it showed just how ready our people were.”
This story is a behind-the-scenes look at that first patrol and the Coast Guard members transforming the former Shell oilfield servicing vessel, Aiviq, into the service’s first new polar icebreaker in 25 years. Purchased last year for $125 million to increase the U.S. presence in the Arctic, Storis entered service fast and was manned without the usual lead time. What followed has been pure Coast Guard: learn as you go, document everything, and be ready when the mission changes.
The right crew for an unconventional ship
Even after being painted Coast Guard red, the Storis looks and feels different than traditional cutters. Built for Arctic oil exploration by Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) in Louisiana, the ship is shorter and taller than legacy icebreakers. Its flight deck is forward as opposed to aft, and its systems are designed for commercial operations, not Coast Guard missions.
Kerns was selected with that challenge in mind. “I’m not an icebreaker guy,” he said, having most recently served as liaison officer to the Navy’s Seventh Fleet in Japan. “I was chosen for my engineering design background. This wasn’t the ship we would design and build. But it’s the ship we have, and we’re making it work.”
Because the Coast Guard acquired and commissioned Storis so quickly, there was no traditional six-month training pipeline. Instead, the cutter deployed with two crews: about 45 Coast Guard members, mostly E-5s and above—and 22 ECO civilian mariners who knew the ship inside and out.
“The idea was that they would teach us how to use the equipment,” Kerns said. “And gradually, we would reduce their numbers as we figured out the ship.”
Learning from civilian expertise
For Libbing, an operations specialist still building sea time, the arrangement initially raised concerns. “At first, I was a little nervous,” she said. “You don’t know these people. They’re not Coast Guard–vetted, and as a female you’re thinking about how that will work.”
Those concerns didn’t last long. The civilians impressed their military counterparts with their professionalism, deep knowledge, and endurance, standing 12-hour watches compared with the Coast Guard’s four.
Lt.j.g Sofia Scott, who’d served on the CGC Polar Star since graduating from the Academy in 2023, was usually paired with a third mate. “We’d stand watch together and they would basically teach me everything,” she said. “I couldn’t believe all the information they had to know about engineering to hold that qualification.”
Kerns worked deliberately to avoid an “us versus them” mindset. “We went in knowing this was how it was going to work,” he said. “I made it clear from the start—we’re one crew, one team, one mission.”
That partnership proved essential, especially when Coast Guard procedures didn’t always match how the ship was designed to operate. Systems aboard Storis are highly automated, with propulsion, electrical, and control systems tightly linked, so the ship can diagnose and correct some faults on its own rather than requiring an immediate hands-on response.
Early on, Chief Petty Officer Mike Underwood remembers how Coast Guard members reacted too quickly to an alarm on the ship and caused a blackout.
“It’s so ingrained in us that if you hear an alarm you need to do something to fix it right away,” said Underwood, a machinery technician with five years on the CGC Healy, a medium icebreaker. “One of the training challenges was to change that thinking, to learn to wait 40 seconds for the ship to correct itself. We had a pump fail on a generator that was overheating, and we never actually lost power because it just switched another generator online.”
Because the Storis was built with Arctic uncertainty in mind, it has extensive redundancy, including multiple ways to generate power, move water, and keep systems online. This setup has helped allay some concerns about buying a used ship.
“There’s a lot less fear of something breaking underway because there’s usually another system ready to take over,” Kerns said. “I think this probably makes the ship more capable to stand up to a long deployment than we expected.”
Putting together the playbook while underway
Even as Storis shifted into real-world operations, the inaugural patrol still accomplished its original mission. The crew focused on learning the ship, writing procedures, and building qualification standards that would eventually allow Storis to operate independently as a Coast Guard cutter.
A wall was erected to create a restricted space on the ship before it even left the yard in Mississippi. Libbing, serving as command security officer, then began building the cutter’s security program. She drafted emergency action plans and clearance processes—all on a ship with limited office space and no traditional CIC.
“I spent a lot of time writing instructions and manuals and making sure we’re in compliance, security-wise,” she said.
Below decks, Underwood, a machinery technician, was doing the same for engineering. He helped develop training packets, watchstander requirements, and qualification standards for a propulsion plant unlike anything most members had encountered.
“Everyone showed up here with zero knowledge and in a very short amount of time we had to learn everything so we could write policy, run drills, and get everyone qualified,” he said.
The crew focused on the basics: damage control, mooring and unmooring, watchstanding, and emergency response. Interim qualifications were issued, processes documented, and lessons tested at sea.
Comfort, capability and creativity
Despite the challenges, Storis surprised the crew in other ways, particularly quality of life. Rooms and lounges are spacious and well-appointed. There are stairwells as opposed to ladders between decks, as well as an elevator. Outside stairs, railings, and hallways are heated, so members don’t have to chip ice off of them.
“The berthings are insanely nice,” said Libbing, who shares a room with one other crewmember. It has twin beds, two desks, a flat-screen TV, and a private bathroom.
When her husband—who she met in 2009 while serving on the Polar Star—visited the ship in San Diego, he even called her out on it. “You need to stop complaining,” he said. “That berthing is amazing.”
Located higher in the ship, the berthings were also noticeably quieter than those on the Polar Star. While some of this could change as the cutter is refitted for a larger crew and ventures into thicker ice, it was an unexpected morale boost for Libbing.
Operationally, Storis has also proven more maneuverable than expected. Bow and stern thrusters allow the cutter to gingerly ease up to ice ledges and work in tight spaces. “On Healy, it was harder to get that kind of control,” Underwood said.
The ship’s large working deck and forward flight deck have sparked creative thinking, with members envisioning them as modular mission spaces. “You could put CONEX boxes out there for specialized missions,” Underwood said. “If a Navy dive team shows up with a barometric chamber, we can power it.
In fact, when the ship was commissioned in August, one of those spaces was already occupied by a container housing an armory, which includes four .50-caliber machine guns.
Underwood was also intrigued by dry bulk storage areas. “The Coast Guard doesn’t need these, but they might work for fuel storage,” he said. “There’s also a winch big enough to tow an aircraft carrier that I’m sure we can use.”
An unconventional tour
Just making their way to the Arctic offered experiences few members ever get. The Storis left Pascagoula, Mississippi on June 1 and transited the Panama Canal, stopping in San Diego, Calif. and Seattle, Wash. to add crew and supplies before arriving in Juneau, Alaska for its August 10 commissioning and heading on to its Arctic patrol.
Scott, who grew up watching ships from her home on Bainbridge Island, piloted Storis through the Panama Canal, maneuvering through tight turns and squeezing into locks at just a few knots.
“I was very lucky because that was eight hours of very intense ship handling,” she said. “I learned very quickly how the ship responds when making these turns.”
Once they got up to the Arctic, there was another surprise. Scott recognized Xue Long 2 from an earlier Antarctica deployment—this time in a very different context. “That was interesting,” she said. “Polar Star is kind of a one-trick pony—you’re icebreaking. I’ve never done much on the intelligence side of the house before.”
Crew members were also struck by the degree of public interest in the Storis. Underwood, for example, was accustomed to only a handful of people showing up for tours when he was aboard the Healy. During six port calls with the Storis, more than 1,500 people toured the ship. “It was exhausting,” Libby said, “but also fun to see all the excitement about what we’re doing in the Arctic.”
What’s next
In early October, Storis returned to Seattle, its temporary berth until shore infrastructure is developed in Juneau. By mid-November, the crew had conducted firefighting and flood response drills to ensure the Coast Guard could handle a casualty onboard. Engineering took on more of the maintenance duties, which meant 12 ECO mariners could be relieved of duty, leaving just 10 civilians still on the ship.
Recently, nonrates have begun reporting aboard. Berthings are being retrofitted to increase capacity, which means more bunks in a room. Lounges have been converted into office space, and the damage control locker is almost built out. Tools and equipment, which were often absent early on, continue to arrive.
Ice trials are planned for spring 2026, something Scott is looking forward to since that is one of the reasons she was billeted. Storis is designed to break through at least six feet of ice, but the ice the Coast Guard encountered in September wasn’t that thick. So the crew needs to return to observe and document the ship’s capability. If all goes as planned, Storis will head back to the Arctic next summer where it will be able to project U.S. presence and conduct regular high latitude operations.
In the meantime, the work of getting this unique vessel mission ready remains anything but routine.
“Every day still has an element of discovery,” Kerns said. “It can be frustrating at times, but it’s fascinating.”
Polar Star, Storis, and Healy. U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) arrives at Pier 46 on Coast Guard Base Seattle, Oct. 26, 2025. The crew of the Healy transited over 20,000 miles, supporting Operation Arctic West Summer and Operation Frontier Sentinel, protecting U.S. sovereign rights and territory, and promoting national security in the Arctic. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lieutenant Christopher Butters)
Below is a post from MyCG.
It is worth noting that our ally, Canada, is also building a new generation of icebreakers in cooperation with the Finns. In fact the Arctic Security Cutters will be built to two designs shared with Canada.
Canadian Coast Guard Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI). Source: Seaspan
Note: The MPI image does not show the right propulsors; it will use Steerprop’s contra-rotating propulsors (CRP). Additionally according to Seaspan, the design could easily be upgraded to PC3. Confirmation from Seaspan and Aker Arctic.
By Katie Duckett, The Circuit writer
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Circuit C5ISC blog. (CAC required)
After decades of watching its polar fleet degrade toward obsolescence, the Coast Guard is now poised for a historic transformation in the world’s coldest waters. The spending bill signed on July 4, 2025 has delivered nearly $9 billion for icebreaker construction to the Coast Guard, the single largest polar investment in service history, setting the stage for what officials are calling a new era of American presence in the Arctic and Antarctic.
The timing couldn’t be more fitting. For years America’s polar ambitions have rested largely on the shoulders of USCGC POLAR STAR (WAGB-10), an icebreaker commissioned in 1976. Now 49 years old and nearly two decades past her designed service life, she remains the only American ship capable of punching through the thick ice surrounding McMurdo Station in Antarctica, a mission she has performed faithfully for 28 consecutive years during Operation Deep Freeze.
Alongside POLAR STAR, USCGC HEALY (WAGB-20) has spent a quarter century conducting Arctic research and patrol, identifying underwater volcanoes and mapping the seafloor while monitoring the increasing presence of Russian and Chinese vessels in polar waters. But electrical fires and mechanical strain have tested this workhorse; in December 2024, USCGC STORIS (WMEC-38) became the first polar icebreaker added to the fleet in 25 years, offering immediate relief. Commissioned in Juneau last August, she completed a 112-day inaugural Arctic patrol that fall, shadowing five Chinese research vessels operating in American waters. The purchase served as a bridge strategy, buying time until heavier reinforcements would arrive.
Announced this May, the Coast Guard’s Force Design 2028 initiative has designated polar capability a cornerstone of service transformation. FD28 explicitly calls for delivering “icebreakers needed to provide assured U.S. access and presence to the polar regions” while streamlining acquisitions to accelerate timelines that have historically lagged.
The Coast Guard’s vision for polar operations is now bankrolled at historic scale. This year’s spending bill allocates $4.3 billion for three Polar Security Cutters, massive 460-foot heavy icebreakers capable of smashing through ice 21 feet thick. The first of these, USCGC POLAR SENTINEL (WMSP-21), is expected to enter service around 2030. Another $3.5 billion will fund the Arctic Security Cutter program, which received a dramatic boost in October 2025 when the President signed an agreement with Finland to deliver 11 medium icebreakers, with the first five set to arrive by 2028. When combined with the additional light icebreaker funding included in the bill, the legislation enables construction of 17 new vessels in total, a number that would have seemed unthinkable just five years ago.
The urgency of Arctic operations extends beyond aging hulls. Russia currently operates more than 40 icebreakers, continuing to militarize its Arctic coastline. China, despite possessing no Arctic territory, has declared itself a “near-Arctic state” and deployed its own coast guard vessels alongside Russian patrols near Alaska. And a changing climate is unlocking shipping lanes and resources that will demand American presence and enforcement.
After decades of deferred maintenance and delayed procurement, the Coast Guard’s polar plans are finally scaled to the challenge. This frozen frontier, once patrolled by a single aging ship, will soon host a fleet befitting American strategic interests at both poles.
The rudder of the USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) is being removed while in a Vallejo, Calif., dry dock, April 1, 2025. The maintenance work completed over the past five years recapitalized integral systems, including propulsion, communication, and machinery control systems. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Nestor Molina)
“On Dec. 30, 2025, California ship repairer Mare Island Dry Dock LLC (MIDD) informed the City of Vallejo that it would permanently close its Mare Island facility, resulting in the termination of all employees over the coming days.
The plan had been for USCGC Healy to go through a phased Service Life Extension program at this yard in much the same way as USCGC Polar Star had done. Apparently that plan has changed.
Having a yard with the potential of Mare Island close when the country is waking up to the fact that it needs more shipyards, particularly on the West Coast, seems unwise. This may be an opportunity for the Federal Government to recover all the Mare Island yard for future development. Government owned shipyards are an advantage, particularly for emergency repairs. No need to send out for bids. No need to wait for a court decision if loosing bidder objects.
This could be Coast Guard Yard West. It could also be a homeport.
The Polar Security Cutters and most of the Arctic Security Cutters will be coming to the West Coast.
Its true that the cost of living and consequently wages would be higher than most East Coast Yards, but by West Coast standards, Vallejo is a relative bargain with cost of living far lower than Seattle, Alameda, Long Beach, San Diego, or Honolulu.
251118-G-G0107-1008
Coast Guard Cutter Stone’s crew poses for a group photo on the flight deck of the ship, Nov. 18, 2025, Port Everglades, Florida. Coast Guard Cutter Stone’s crew offloaded approximately 49,010 pounds of illicit narcotics worth more than $362 million. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Cutter Stone’s crew) “The cutter took custody of 36 smuggling suspects during the mission, repatriated 29 to Ecuador for prosecution and referred the others to the Justice Department, the Coast Guard said in a statement.”
New York Times reports the Justice Department has in many cases chosen not to be bothered to prosecute the crews of boats seized by the Coast Guard.
“…for the most part, people captured by the Coast Guard in the same smuggling routes the U.S. military is bombing are being repatriated — either directly, before reaching the United States, or through deportation after briefly being questioned near U.S. ports.
“Some people who have been involved in the process caution that the strategy could erode the intelligence gathering operation that tracks the drug smuggling routes. It has helped the Coast Guard, by its own count, interdict 3,588 vessels and seize 3.26 million kilograms, or 7.19 million pounds, of cocaine and lesser amounts of marijuana since 2003.
This has resulted in closing off a source of intelligence that can result from plea bargaining in exchange for a reduction in the ten year mandatory sentence.
“…after Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in February to mostly stop bringing charges against low-level offenders in favor of bigger investigations, the once steady stream of federal trafficking cases is drying up.”
Apparently the Coast Guard is still stopping more product than the Navy/Marine task force, and the threat of bombing does not seem to have discouraged others from making the attempt.
“Between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, when the U.S. military blew up 22 vessels, killing 83 people in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard interdicted 38 vessels suspected of smuggling drugs — three more than it had intercepted during the same period in 2024.”
The crews of the drug smuggling boats do not appear to be career cartel members. They are impoverished and cannot afford a legal defense. They are also not generally violent.
“But in the past five years, the Coast Guard says, there has been just one instance of a smuggling suspect being shot and killed during an interdiction. Lt. Cmdr. Steven Roth, the Coast Guard’s chief of media relations, described that instance as a ramming episode during a boarding operation that put members of the Guard at risk.”
As a result of the change of policy,
“The Coast Guard statement described the process this way: When the Justice Department “declines prosecution, the Coast Guard coordinates either the direct repatriation to the detainee’s country of nationality or transfer ashore to Department of Homeland Security custody for additional investigation and expedited removal.”
On the one hand, the people are deemed “so dangerous and so horrible” that the government has resorted to killing them, the agent said. On the other, capturing them would lead to their deportation because they are considered “so minor.”
A major question that has surfaced as a result of the decision to destroy rather than capture is could any of these boats be innocent?
A letter from the head of the Coast Guard released in December by Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, reported that more than one-fifth of suspicious boats that were stopped by Guard forces from Sept. 1, 2024 to Oct. 7 of this year had no drugs.
A portion of that letter is quoted below.
- From September 1, 2024, to October 7, 2025, Coast Guard surface assets, operating under Coast Guard law enforcement authority, interdicted 212 suspected drug-smuggling vessels at sea headed toward the United States. Of the 212 interdictions, 41 vessels had no illicit contraband on board when interdicted: 24 of those 41 vessels without contraband did not appear to commit any federal criminal offense.
- Of the 212 total vessels interdicted during this period, 69 vessels were interdicted in the Caribbean Sea by Coast Guard surface assets, operating under Coast Guard law enforcement authority. Of these 69 interdictions, 14 had no illicit contraband on board when interdicted: 11 of those 14 vessels without contraband did not appear to commit any federal criminal offense. Of the 69 Caribbean interdictions, 14 vessels were interdicted off the coast of Venezuela. Three of the 14 vessels interdicted near Venezuela had no illicit contraband on board when interdicted, but one of the three violated other U.S. federal criminal statutes.
- The Coast Guard did not use lethal force against any of the 212 vessels interdicted at sea during this period. The Coast Guard used non-lethal force to warn and/or disable non-compliant vessels suspected of smuggling on 105 occasions during this period
The report also found no basis for linking the attacks on boats to overdose deaths from Fentanyl.
“Fentanyl, which comes from China, appears in only three years of Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean seizures since 2003, and insignificantly so: about 38 pounds in the fiscal year 2021, 12 pounds the year before and a quarter-pound in 2023.”
Location of China’s five Antarctic Research Stations and a proposed sixth station. The U.S. operates three Antarctic Research Stations. (Image: ABC News: Maggie Khameneh)
Sixty Degrees North has an interesting report on what is happening with regard to Chinese and Russian icebreakers.
China’s actions in the Arctic have been getting a lot of Press, but their actions in Antarctic deserve more attention.
The Russian section notes for the first time, Russia had eight nuclear powered icebreakers underway. Sanctions and the War in Ukraine have made exports from the Russian Arctic essential. The coverage reveals why Russia has so many icebreakers, that the Russian icebreaker fleet is getting old, and sanctions are making building replacements difficult.
Manufactured by AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China), the Wing Loong II is an advanced iteration of the earlier Wing Loong I. It features a wingspan of 20.5 meters, a length of 11 meters, a height of 4.1 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 4.2 tons, and a payload capacity of up to 480 kilograms. It is powered by a rear-mounted turbocharged engine with a three-bladed propeller, allowing for a top speed of 370 km/h, a service ceiling of 9,900 meters, and a flight endurance exceeding 20 hours. Its satellite communications system enables long-range control over distances of more than 2,000 kilometers, covering the full expanse of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Army Recognition Group’s Navy News reports,
“Illustrative images released by the China Coast Guard on December 30, 2025, suggest the operational use of the Wing Loong II unmanned aerial vehicle during the Justice Mission-2025 exercise. If confirmed, this would mark the first publicly documented appearance of the MALE drone in a coast guard mission, highlighting a potential shift in China’s maritime law enforcement capabilities.”
This only illustrates that China is following a world wide trend of employing land based medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAS for Maritime Domain Awareness. The US Coast Guard is planning on getting some MQ-9s, but if anything, we may be behind the curve. Current MQ-9 maritime users include Canada, India, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US Navy.
Wing Loong II appears to be similar to the MQ-9, perhaps a bit smaller. There is no indication if it has detect and avoid capability that would allow it to be certifiable in civil airspace like the MQ-9B. The Wing Loong II’s operational history is interesting and perhaps even a bit surprising. It has been used against Iran, Boko Haram, and the Houthi.
The exercise mentioned, Justice Mission 2025, simulated a blockade of Taiwan. Not surprisingly China Coast Guard seemed to have a significant role to play. This series of exercises might be used to normalize occasional movement of significant forces to surround Taiwan. Ultimately this apparent routine may be used to delay response prior to an attempt to forcibly unify Taiwan with the PRC.
Source: Seaspan. Canadian Coast Guard Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI). Source: Seaspan. This is the ship to be built by the Bollinger/Seaspan/Rauma Marine Constructions (Rauma)/Aker Arctic Team. Two will be built in Finland while four are be built in the US.
Note: The MPI image does not show the right propulsors; it will use Steerprop’s contra-rotating propulsors (CRP). Additionally according to Seaspan, the design could easily be upgraded to PC3. Confirmation from Seaspan and Aker Arctic.
Below are two news releases, first from the Coast Guard and second from Bollinger. This is one of two programs that are ultimately expected to provide eleven Arctic Security Cutters.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced the award of two contracts to build up to six Arctic Security Cutter (ASC) icebreakers — ships designed to break through and navigate ice-covered waters — between the United States and Finland in a major step forward for America’s national security.
Contracts were awarded Friday to Rauma Marine Constructions Oy of Rauma, Finland, and Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, L.L.C. of Lockport, Louisiana, and are the result of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s visionary international agreements with Finland and the historic investments authorized in the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Arctic Security Cutters will defend U.S. sovereignty, secure critical shipping lanes, protect energy and mineral resources, and counter our adversaries’ presence in the Arctic region. They will enable the Coast Guard to control, secure and defend U.S. Alaskan borders, facilitate maritime commerce vital to economic prosperity and strategic mobility, and respond to crises and contingencies in the region.
“America has been an Arctic nation for over 150 years, and we’re finally acting like it under President Trump. Our adversaries continue to look to grow their presence in the Arctic, equipping the Coast Guard with Arctic Security Cutters will help reassert American maritime dominance there,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “Revitalizing the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking capabilities is crucial for our security and prosperity, and today’s announcement is an important step in that direction.”
“These awards represent decisive action to guarantee American security in the Arctic,” said Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard. “The Arctic Security Cutters will deliver the essential capability to uphold U.S. sovereignty against adversaries’ aggressive economic and military actions in the Arctic. These cutters will ensure the Coast Guard’s ability to control, secure, and defend our northern border and maritime approaches – without question.”
The contract with Rauma Marine Constructions Oy includes up to two ASCs to be built in Finland, with delivery of the first vessel expected in 2028. The contract with Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, L.L.C. includes up to four ASCs to be built in the United States, with delivery of the first domestically built cutter expected in 2029. This plan is designed to take immediate advantage of our Finnish partners’ icebreaker expertise while coordinating the on-shoring of that expertise in the United States in the long run.
Acquisition of ASCs continues Service’s modernization through Force Design 2028, an initiative introduced by Secretary Noem to transform the Coast Guard into a more agile, capable and responsive fighting force.
Construction of ASCs at Bollinger’s Gulf Coast shipbuilding facilities promotes the rapid onshoring of icebreaking technology and swift deployment of these new critical vessels to the fleet.
LOCKPORT, La. — (December 29, 2025) – Bollinger Shipyards (“Bollinger”) today announced it has signed a contract with the U.S. Coast Guard for the construction of four Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs), a new class of medium polar icebreakers that will expand America’s operational presence in the Arctic.
The contract formalizes Bollinger’s leading role in the historic U.S.–Finland collaboration announced earlier this fall by the White House. Bollinger will construct ASCs based on the Multi-Purpose Icebreaker design by Seaspan Shipyards of Vancouver, Canada, developed with Aker Arctic Technology Inc of Helsinki, Finland. To support the objectives of the White House, Bollinger has worked in close partnership with Rauma Marine Construction Oy, a Finnish shipyard, to ensure that the US receives these icebreaking capabilities as rapidly as possible.
Work on the four Bollinger-built ASCs will be based at its shipyard in Houma, Louisiana. Construction of the ASCs will be supported by the company’s workforce at multiple facilities across America’s Gulf Coast to meet the aggressive schedule set forth by President Trump.
“The Arctic Security Cutter is one of the most consequential and time-sensitive shipbuilding programs in U.S. Coast Guard history, and today’s contract award is a clear vote of confidence in the men and women of Bollinger,” said Ben Bordelon, President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. “The program will be Bollinger’s fifth class of cutters built for the Coast Guard, building on our current Sentinel and Polar Security Cutter programs and more than 40 years of experience in delivering over 187 cutters for the service. With clear direction from President Trump and an aggressive delivery timeline, our mission is straightforward: leverage the full strength of our shipbuilding facilities across the Gulf Coast, along with our proven partners, to deliver these cutters on schedule and mission ready on day one.”
“By centering ASC construction in Houma, Louisiana, while drawing on our broader footprint, we gain the flexibility and capacity to move fast without compromising safety or quality,” Bordelon added. “These ships will operate in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. Our responsibility is to deliver a stable, reliable platform that Coast Guard crews can trust from their first mission underway and for decades to come.”
The contract for four Bollinger-built ASCs is part of a broader program that will ultimately field up to eleven Arctic Security Cutters under the trilateral ICE Pact framework. Together with the ongoing Polar Security Cutter program, ASC will provide the Coast Guard with a modern, layered icebreaking fleet capable of enforcing U.S. sovereignty, protecting American interests against global threats and enabling year-round operations as commercial activity and strategic competition accelerate in the Arctic.
About the Arctic Security Cutter Program
The Arctic Security Cutter is a new class of medium polar icebreakers designed to conduct missions of the U.S. Coast Guard in the world’s most challenging maritime environments. The ASC will be capable of breaking thick sea ice, sailing thousands of nautical miles without resupply and remaining on-station for extended periods. Along with the future Polar Security Cutter class, ASCs will provide the Coast Guard with the endurance and capability needed to protect U.S. interests in the rapidly evolving Arctic domain.
About Bollinger Shipyards
Bollinger Shipyards is a leading U.S. designer and builder of high-performance military and commercial vessels, including Coast Guard cutters, research vessels, double-hull barges, offshore energy support vessels, tugs, lift boats and other specialized steel and aluminum craft. With more than 80 years of continuous operation, Bollinger today operates 13 facilities strategically located across Louisiana and Mississippi with direct access to the Gulf of America, the Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway, and is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf region.
The choice of the NSC as the basis for the FF(X) has prompted a lot of discussion about their survivability. Ten years ago, I did a post, “Small Warship Survivability,” I think it is still relevant. Basically I found that while it is certainly true that a major hit is more likely to sink a small ship than a large ship, the probability of actually being sunk is, based on US WWII experience, less likely for smaller ships. Looking at the video above, it seems that is the British experience as well.
In addition, it is far more likely that large ships will be taken out of service for a period due to damage that does not sink the ship. The current lack of tenders, repair ships, and floating dry docks makes these periods likely to be relatively long.
Considering the possibility of a war with China, it seems little thought has gone into how the effort will be supplied. In 2018 the Navy frankly told Military Sealift Command that they would probably not be able to escort the logistics ships that supply the US military. Additionally we have so few merchant mariners, we cannot afford to loose any of them.
The head of the Chinese Navy is a submariner. The Chinese have studied the naval war in the Pacific during WWII and they found the Japanese’s primary mistake was not attacking US logistics. We can be pretty sure, if we go to war, Chinese nuclear submarines, supported by their constellation of satellites, will be positioned to ambush our logistics when hostilities start. (I think there may be a possibility of armed merchant ships as well early in the conflict. MSC ships are essentially unarmed making them easy prey.)
Our situation is not unlike that of the Royal Navy in WWII. We do not have enough ships to escort the logistics ships. If we try to make each new ship capable of dealing with every threat, we will be unable to build enough. We need to build enough that are just good enough to handle escorting in areas where the threats are limited to submarines and their limited number of weapons. In areas where the threats more diverse, they will have to be teamed with more capable ships.
We will also need to be able to take out their satellites, but that is a job for Space Force.
It might be possible to escort some ships with Maritime Patrol Aircraft like the P-8. To make that possible we probably need to reopen NAS Adak, but if the vessels are sunk, the aircraft cannot rescue the crew.
An aspect of the Battle of the Atlantic that is frequently overlooked, is how many merchant mariners were rescued by escorts and specialist rescue vessels. If the crews know that there will be no rescue if their ships are sunk, they might not even choose to start.
Check out the video. The success of the corvettes was remarkable.
The War Zone reports what seemed obvious from the artists’ renderings, that the FF(x) derived from the National Security Cutter will not have any permanently installed vertical launch missile tubes,
“The initial flight of FF(X) will have a 57mm gun, 2 x 30mm guns, a Mk 49 Rolling Airframe Missile [launcher], various countermeasures, and a flight deck from which to launch helicopters and unmanned systems. Aft of the flight deck, there will be a flexible weapons system, which can accommodate containerized payloads (Counter-UAS, other missiles),” a Navy spokesperson told TWZ today. “Much like the successful DDG-51 [Arleigh Burke class destroyer] program, we are building this in flights. The frigate will be upgraded over successive flights to evolve and has the space reservations needed to improve capability over time.”
Members of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford’s crew remove a RIM-116 missile from a Mk 49 launcher during qualification trials.
I must admit, I missed the two 30mm guns, presumably Mk38 Mod4s.
A Revolution in Coast Guard Readiness:
There is reference to containerized, modular, or off-board unmanned systems operating from or in conjunction with the FF(X).
That sounds like the promises that accompanied the LCS, but if the Navy delivers on these systems, it could revolutionize the way the Coast Guard meets its military readiness mission. There are already mine counter measures and missile launching systems.
The Navy could maintain the mission modules and identify those who would operate and maintain them and simply assign them to Coast Guard units upon mobilization. The Coast Guard maintains and operates the platform while the Navy maintains and operates the payload.
Towed Arrays and helicopters is what I think about first, but it might include mine clearance if a US port may have been mined–don’t have to wait for a mine countermeasures ship to get there, just fly in the equipment and the crew, have them operate from a CG station or perhaps a buoy tender.
“USS Savannah (LCS 28) conducts a live-fire demonstration in the Eastern Pacific Ocean utilizing a containerized launching system that fired an SM-6 missile from the ship at a designated target. The exercise demonstrated the modularity and lethality of Littoral Combat Ships and the ability to successfully integrate a containerized weapons system to engage a surface target. The exercise will inform continued testing, evaluation and integration of containerized weapons systems on afloat platforms.”
Mk70 missile launchers could be flown to Alaska and mated to a cutter already in the area.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 