Russia and Canada in the Arctic

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Chuck Hill

Interesting Article here from Christian Science Monitor updating the Russian (and Canadian) positions on claims in the Arctic, including an expected 380,000 square mile continental shelf claim by the Russians and a statement that they are planning on building six new icebreakers.

This is a bit older, but talks about Canada’s ship building plans including a new icebreaker, CCGS_John_G._Diefenbaker, and up to eight ice strengthened Arctic Patrol Ships.

Photo left: Norwegian Svalbard, basis of the design for Canada’s Arctic Patrol Ships.

The Melting Arctic

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Chuck Hill

Some interesting commentary here (Science Progress, “The Arctic Sea Ice Death Spiral Continues,” by Joe Romm).

Arctic sea ice volume by month in cubic kilometers (with simple quadratic trend lines projecting to zero volume, details here). The bottom (red) line is September volume.

A couple of interesting statements included,

In November, Rear Admiral David Titley, the Oceanographer of the Navy, testified that “the volume of ice as of last September has never been lower…in the last several thousand years.” Titley, who is also the Director of Navy’s Task Force Climate Change, said he has told the Chief of Naval Operations that “we expect to see four weeks of basically ice free conditions in the mid to late 2030s.”

Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School has “projected a (virtually) ice-free fall by 2016 (+/- 3 yrs).”

While I don’t think this means we won’t need new icebreakers, it may mean we will need Arctic Patrol Cutters sooner than we think.

“Operating in the Arctic, Resourcing For The 21st Century,” An Interview with RAdm Jeff Garrett, USCG (ret)

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Chuck Hill

I’d like to point out an excellent interview that forcefully makes many of the points the Coast Guard needs to be pushing to have an effective polar capability. It needs wider dissemination. RAdm. Garrett is apparently an excellent spokesman for the Coast Guard.

There are some points in the article that also deserve to be highlighted.

A icebreaker can do more than break ice. It can serve effectively as Coast Guard infrastructure in the Arctic–logistics base, air station, SAR station, MLE, ATON, etc.

USCGC Healy was built with money from the USN budget. (It could, perhaps should, happen again.)

The Canadians are building a mix of high-low ice capability ships, a large icebreaker and ice-strengthened patrol ships. (For a while the Coast Guard also had a high-low mix, Polar class on the high end and Glacier and Wind class as the low end.)


The Polar Star Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Uscgc_polar_star.jpg

“Let Pobedy: A Tour of the World’s Most Powerful Nuclear Icebreaker”

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Chuck Hill

Not really a “tour,” but gCaptain offers a good view of this monster in operation as it seemingly effortlessly makes its way to the North Pole.

25,000 tons, 521 ft long, 55 MegaWatts (75,000 HP) from two reactors, hangers for two helicopters, capable of breaking ice 9 feet thick.

Arctic SAR Treaty in the Works

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Chuck Hill

This report in the Canadian press suggests that a SAR treaty, negotiated by the Arctic Council members in December, could be signed when the foreign ministers next meet, beginning May 12th, in Nuuk, Greenland. It also gives a glimpse into the challenges the Canadians are facing in getting forces in the area.

Members of the Arctic Council include Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the US.

It will be interesting to see where they draw the sector lines since there is still some disagreement between the parties as to where the national boundaries lie.

Adm Papp Interviewed by Homeland Security Today

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Chuck Hill

There is an interview with Admiral Papp in the November 2010 “Homeland Security Today” that is available on line here.

When asked about his vision for the Coast Guard, Admiral Papp laid down four principles:

steady the service
honor our profession
strengthen our partnerships
respect our shipmates

It appears his primary concern is to strengthen understanding of a common Coast Guard Culture, integrating the changes initiated by the last two Commandants, rather than making sweeping of his own. To use his analogy, to publish a watch, quarter, and station bill. As might be expected he discusses budget cuts, the BP oil spill, recapitalization, counter-terrorism and counter-drug operations, and the Arctic. He also talks about developing a career path for marine safety. Its an impressive interview.

Icebreakers–Photos

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Chuck Hill

This tread has some interesting photos of modern icebreakers. Hopefully someone is thinking about this topic in the context of what our new construction icebreakers will look like.

The US does have a couple of ice capable research vessels that are referred to in the tread that I had not been aware of, the 94 meter (310 foot) icebreaker R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, built in 1992,

Nathaniel B. Palmer in sea ice

and the 76 meter (251 foot) ice-strengthened (Ice class ABS A1) RV Laurence M. Goul, built in 1997. Both were built by Edison Chouest Offshore Inc., Galliano, Louisiana,

L.M. Gould in Arthur Harbor

(Thanks, Steve, for the link)

“We need icebreakers”–Adm Papp

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Chuck Hill

The Commandant has come out and said what we already knew. Navy Times is reporting Admiral Papp stated “We need icebreakers up [in the Arctic], and right now our icebreakers are in a sorry state…They need replacement or very thorough renovation to allow the United States to sustain an active presence and support our sovereignty up there.”

Let’s be clear, a “very thorough renovation” may be needed, but it is not enough. The two Polar Class breakers are already 34 and 36 years old. Hopefully we will get them running again, but they will need to replaced within any prudent planning horizon. It seems to take us ten years to get a new ship built, so if we start on their replacements now, they will be about 46 years old when they are replaced. We need to start with the assumption that we will build new icebreakers, then we can make intelligent decisions about how much to invest in the Polar Class. The replacement ships may not need to be as large or as powerful, but even a ship of comparable capabilities should be possible that is cheaper to man, run, and maintain. The question is not do we need new icebreakers, it is how quickly? Expecting these ships to soldier on without a planned replacement is unrealistic.

“Securing American Maritime Boundaries”

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Chuck Hill

An interesting article that provides a good summary of the confluence of increased demand and declining assets that is squeezing the Coast Guard.

Hovercraft

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Chuck Hill

It has been quite a while since the Coast Guard tried using hovercraft. It may be time to have another look. Here is an interesting video (sales pitch) about how other services are using hovercraft. Many of the users in the video are in areas where ice and snow covered surfaces are common. With the Arctic opening up, there might be a place for these craft there.

The Indian Coast Guard has had some experience with these craft and have decided to triple their fleet to 18 craft.

Not that we would want them everywhere, but perhaps for some environments, they would be just what we need.

Chuck Hill's CG Blog

Tag Archives: Arctic