US – Canadian partnership for icebreakers
With both the USA and Canada looking to boost their icebreaker capacities, the two countries have agreed to pool their resources in order to design and test polar icebreakers.
With both the USA and Canada looking to boost their icebreaker capacities, the two countries have agreed to pool their resources in order to design and test polar icebreakers.
According to The Arctic Journal, the current American plans for constructing a new icebreaker will include testing at the Canadian National Research Council ice tank in St John’s, Newfoundland. Later, further testing is scheduled to take place at the US Navy’s Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
The US Coast Guard has not built a heavy icebreaker for 40 years. Now they have a program for new vessels with constructing commencing by 2020.
The Canadians are also planning to construct a new icebreaker, with one of its currently operative icebreakers dating back to 1969.
The two countries’ coast guards will pool their shipbuilding experiences in order to design new and modern icebreakers fit for services in the High North.