Friday, January 8, 2016

Wired Editorial: U.S. needs more icebreakers to be player in the Arctic





The U.S. remains dangerously unprepared for the profound changes and opportunities coming to the Arctic, according to Gregory Noddin Poulin, a researcher who focuses on the intersection of globalization, national security, science and technology. Nowhere, Poulin writes in Wired, is this more obvious than in the pitiful state of its icebreaker fleet.

The country has just one heavy ice breaker and no plans to build more, a short-sighted and foolhardy policy that will leave it scrambling to catch up with Arctic nations competing for shipping routes and resources as Arctic ice continues its retreat.

The U.S. once maintained a fleet of seven heavy

icebreakers, but hasn’t commissioned a new one in 40 years. The Coast Guard’s sole remaining vessel, the Polar Star, is slated for retirement as early as 2019.

Every other country touching the Arctic Circle maintains a robust fleet. Russia, for example, is adding a dozen icebreakers to what already is the world’s biggest fleet. This sorry state of affairs led Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan to say, "The highways of the Arctic are paved by icebreakers. Right now, the Russians have superhighways, and we have dirt roads with potholes."

For more of the Wired opinion piece: www.wired.com


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