Coast Guard Icebreaker 'Healy' Set to Redeploy to Arctic Following Repairs

By Malte Humpert (gCaptain) –

Three weeks after U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy returned again to homeport in Seattle following an onboard hearth, the vessel appears to be like set to return to the Arctic Ocean as early as subsequent month. The redeployment of Healy to the area is essential at a time when China and Russia have been stepping up exercise within the north.

In accordance with communication by the USCG Pacific Space Cutter Forces preliminary repairs have been accomplished and Healy will “redeploy to the U.S. Arctic area” on or round October 1. The Coast Guard workplace despatched out a name looking for science proposals for the upcoming voyage.

The vessel suffered an onboard hearth close to Banks Island off the coast of the Canadian territory of Nunavut towards the top of July. The icebreaker was compelled to terminate its annual Arctic patrol and sailed again to homeport on a single engine in mid-August.

Healy’s late fall patrol will likely be restricted to ice-free waters and seas with marginal ice protection no larger than 70 % first-year ice. The Pacific Space Cutter Forces didn’t specify the reasoning for the operational limitations. The onboard hearth reportedly destroyed an engine room transformer rendering the starboard shaft unusable.

With 50-year previous Polar icebreaker Polar Star out of the water for a lot of the summer time for scheduled dry dock upkeep, the U.S. didn’t have any floor vessel presence within the area after the Healy hearth.

Coast Guard efforts to interchange vessels and probably increase its icebreaker fleet have been tormented by repeated delays and value overruns, with a supply of the primary Polar Safety Cutter now unlikely earlier than 2030.

Chinese language polar icebreaker Xue Lengthy 2 – the primary domestically constructed polar class icebreaker – accomplished a historic go to to the Russian Arctic metropolis of Murmansk final week. The vessel departed from Qingdao in early July and handed by the Bering Strait earlier than spending greater than a month traversing the Arctic, together with circling for prolonged occasions to the north of Alaska.

Xue Long 2 in Russia — Xue Lengthy 2 being towed into Kola Bay for its go to to Murmansk. (Supply: Belokamenka on VK)

Xue Lengthy 2’s go to to Murmansk is the primary of its type highlighting the political significance of the 2 nation’s Arctic cooperation. China has been a significant supporter of and investor in Russia’s Arctic oil and gasoline initiatives. With Western sanctions limiting entry to the European market, Russia will look to Asian consumers, particularly China, to market its liquefied pure gasoline.

China has been growing its presence within the Arctic area deploying three icebreakers and icebreaking analysis vessels this summer time. A fourth icebreaker will be part of its Arctic capabilities subsequent yr. Russia additionally not too long ago launched its first “fight” icebreaker.