Upcoming Northwest Passage Voyage Seeks To Boost US Arctic Presence - Coast Guard Chief

The United States plans to send the medium-duty icebreaker Healey through the Northwest Passage on an extended science mission later this year in an effort to increase its presence in the Arctic, the Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2021) The United States plans to send the medium-duty icebreaker Healey through the Northwest Passage on an extended science mission later this year in an effort to increase its presence in the Arctic, the Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said on Wednesday.

"We're going take the coast guard cutter Healey, which is our 420 foot medium icebreaker... and working with the government of Canada, we're going to do a Northwest Passage transit," Schultz told reporters during a virtual press conference.

The mission beginning in late summer or early fall, would begin with scientists examining the northern Pacific and Arctic off the state of Alaska, then sail through the Northwest Passage, continue research in the northern Atlantic and possibly visit Greenland, transit the Northwest passage.

The United States is a relative latecomer to a scramble for Arctic resources and the development of summer shipping lanes as the polar ice cap recedes due to climate change.

"Presence equals influence in the Arctic," Schultz said. However, he noted that US resources are limited, with just two working icebreakers. The construction of a third icebreaker will begin in the next few weeks and require a minimum of six or seven years to complete, he added.

In contrast, Russia operates the world's largest icebreaker fleet with more than 40 ships, several more under construction and a dozen planned over the next decade.

Schultz's remarks preceded next week's ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in Reykjavic, Iceland, where Russia will begin a two-year term as chair of the eight-nation group.