Construction of a new heavy-duty icebreaker for the Coast Guard may begin by the end of December, more than five years after the service awarded a contract for the much-anticipated ship’s design and build.
Vice Adm. Paul Thomas, the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for mission support, told a House subcommittee Wednesday that the design for the polar security cutter likely won’t be complete, but the process will be far enough along to start building portions, or modules, of the vessel.
“We have seen an increase in design maturity that leads us to be optimistic about being able to authorize the start of construction by the end of this year,” Thomas said.
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Thomas didn’t have an estimate for when the ship, the future Polar Sentinel, would be delivered, but said the Coast Guard is looking to renegotiate portions of its contract with Mississippi-based Bollinger Shipyards, which bought the company awarded the original contract, VT Halter Marine Inc., in 2022.
“We are in the process of getting much greater clarity in terms of cost and schedule,” Thomas told members of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Coast Guard and maritime transportation subcommittee.
Last year, Bollinger started construction on a prototype module for the vessel that, if approved, will be integrated into the ship.
The service awarded a $745 million contract…
