A bill that recently passed review by the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation includes provisions for the procurement of six new icebreakers by the US Coast Guard.
If signed into law, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Legislation will grant approval for the coast guard to acquire three new heavy icebreakers as well as the service's first three medium icebreakers.
US Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), one of the bill's co-authors, said that the new icebreakers are to be homeported in Seattle and will help ensure the flow of trade through the Northwest Passage that connects the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
