Options are being examined by the US Coast Guard (USCG) to see whether it is affordable to buy a new heavy icebreaker ship to replace USCGC Polar Sea.
Speaking at Sea-Air-Space 2015, RAdm Bruce Baffer said that they were examining whether it is cheaper to re-activate Polar Sea or if the cost would be so prohibitive that it would be better to buy a new ship.
The USCG has two icebreaker ships, Polar Star and Polar Sea. The latter is no longer operational as it has been parked up and the crew transferred to Polar Star.
Polar Sea is in