The future remains unclear for US Coast Guard’s Healy icebreaker
Healy is the branch’s sole icebreaker operating in the US territorial waters in the Arctic. (Photo: US Coast Guard)
The cutter has been in Seattle where repairs have been taking place to electrical fire damage but no estimate has been given on its return to service leaving the US Coast Guard without surface assets to patrol the Arctic.
The future of the Healy medium icebreaker remains undefined after the vessel had an electrical fire in July during its Arctic deployment. Forced to return to its home port in Seattle, Washington, weeks before concluding its mission, the cutter has been undergoing repair and maintenance without a clear schedule to resume operations.
Speaking to Shephard, an official of the US Coast Guard (USCG) 13th District – Pacific Northwest explained that the service was “working on fixing it”. Its return to perform missions, however, has yet “to be determined”.
The uncertainty puts the USCG in a risky position as it
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