Trump Says He's Working To Get 10 More Icebreakers For The Coast Guard From "A Certain Place"

[rangerrebew]

Trump Says He's Working To Get 10 More Icebreakers For The Coast Guard From "A Certain Place"

If this comes to fruition, it would be a huge boost for the service's icebreaking capacity as competition in the Arctic region grows.

By Joseph TrevithickJuly 10, 2020

    The War Zone
 

U.S. President Donald Trump says his Administration is working to secure 10 icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard. He also claimed that these ships would be cheaper to acquire than that service's future Polar Security Cutters, a new class of heavy icebreakers, the first of which is now under construction. This comes just over a month after Trump ordered the Coast Guard to review its existing icebreaker plans and to look into the possibility of buying or leasing additional ice-capable ships, including nuclear-powered types.

Trump made these comments in a speech during a visit to U.S. Southern Command's headquarters in Doral, Florida, just outside Miami, on July 10, 2020. You can watch his full remarks in the video in the Tweet below. The icebreaker-specific portion begins at around 6:00 in the runtime.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/34751/trump-says-hes-working-to-get-10-more-icebreakers-for-the-coast-guard-from-a-certain-place

[EdinVA]

We have probably hundreds of Navy ships in "mothballs", why can't we modify them and use them?
We are always going back and reinventing the wheel..

[sneakypete]

We have probably hundreds of Navy ships in "mothballs", why can't we modify them and use them?
We are always going back and reinventing the wheel..

@EdinVA

Ships that are put into mothballs are generally ships who are so outdated and have hulls so flexed and worn that it is cheaper and safer to build new than it is to upgrade and repair them.

Hulls flex,and "line ships" aren't re-enforced up at the bow like ice breakers are,which are designed and built specifically to break ice.

Plus they are smaller than most Naval ships and cheaper to operate. Not to mention the cost of recruiting,training,and retaining USCG personnel. Especially when you consider the service life of a new "purpose-built hull" against the cost of maintaining an older vessel that was worn out when you dragged it out of mothballs.

Think of it like the cost of building a new house from scratch,or remodeling and upgrading a old house that needs pretty much everything.