Long-delayed polar icebreaker programme gets cash and impetus boost
The Healy icebreaker ran into problems last year. (Photo: US Coast Guard)
The US Government has awarded a significant contract to move along its Polar Security Cutter programme.
The US Coast Guard’s Polar Security Cutter (PSC) programme has been revitalised by the award of a US$951 million contract modification to Bollinger Shipyards in Mississippi for the detail, design and construction phase of new icebreaker vessels.
The programme, for which contracts were originally awarded to VT Halter Marine (a US subsidiary of Singapore-based ST Shipbuilding) in 2019 and 2021 for two initial vessels, has subsequently accumulated extensive delays and rising costs.
An initial vessel was due to be deployed by 2024, but among other elements, the sale of VT Halter Marine to Bollinger Shipyards in 2022 slowed and complicated
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