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in this past year’s budget and we expect to see the frst one hit platform was the fact that funding was tied up to an extent, the water in 2021.

with the National Science Foundation, and trying to get that funding to the point where everybody agreed on what they

Are you excited about that boat? wanted in that platform was a big deal. How close are you to

Extremely excited. We are under a lot of scrutiny. In fact, to getting some funding so that we can actually see the end of the point where those having oversight of me and the Coast the tunnel for starting one of these?

Guard, were saying, “Well, maybe Coast Guard, you should In 2017, there was a 150 million dollar appropriation. We lessen your requirements to make sure that you can get this now have awarded to fve shipyards to do what are called his- in an affordable range.” And we’ve learned from the past that tory studies – this is looking at either new or commercially off- if you start lessening the requirements, you deliver a less ca- the-shelf designs to do ice trials, which they basically do those pable platform. A platform that is going to be in service a in a tank. In fact, I just visited one in Helsinki four days ago. minimum of three decades – if not more – into the future. And And it does replicate on a much larger scale, you know, with

I can’t forecast what that future’s going to hold for us, but I this design to meet our operational requirements. So those ice would imagine, as I like the say, “the sun never sets on the trials are actually much farther along in that timeline, and we

Coast Guard.” We’re literally deployed around the world, and stood up an integrated program offce with the United States more and more combatant commanders are asking for more Navy. That 150 million dollars is not in our appropriation – it

Coast Guard, all over the world. We’re very active in ACom as is actually in the Navy ship building appropriation. And that we are in SouthCom, as well. I’m delighted that we were able only buys you a little over a third of an icebreaker. to hold to our requirements. We’ve got Eastern Shipbuilding who has delivered a proposal that is well within the affordable

So you’re leveraging NavSea’s capabilities here and then range, and as we roll these platforms up, I’m highly confdent eventually hoping to move on to your own design and then that these are going to meet our operating requirements.

get it under your own auspices.

Yes, so what we want to do is, once we lock in this initial

Let’s talk about another platform: a much needed ice breaker design, and then build out this feet of ice breakers. And so and the one that we all want to see built – but cost of that we’ve done multiple studies, and time and time again, the re- vessel might reach or exceed a billion dollars, according to quirement is for six polar icebreakers.

the people that want to do it. When Admiral (Allen) was here, he told me that one of the big obstacles to that particular I understand that there’ll be a new Commandant this time www.maritimelogisticsprofessional.com 27

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