The New York Times reports today on hand-wringing by the Pentagon and others in the U.S. that it does not have enough icebreakers to match the Russians in the Arctic. There is not a word in the piece about Canada — though Canada easily dominates the Arctic when it comes to shoreline and Canada is expected to assert its sovereignty to many key Arctic shipping lanes under international laws of the sea.
But of course, Canada does not have even one icebreaker capable of operating year-round in the Arctic. The Conservatives, in the last election, promised to build armed heavy icebreakers but, once in office, determined they could only promise to build some Arctic patrol ships that could only operate in the Arctic in summer months.
A growing array of military leaders, Arctic experts and lawmakers say the United States is losing its ability to patrol and safeguard Arctic waters even as climate change and high energy prices have triggered a burst of shipping and oil and gas exploration in the thawing region. …
…Adm. Thad W. Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard, who toured Alaska’s Arctic shores two weeks ago with the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, said that whatever mix of natural and human factors is causing the ice retreats, the Arctic is clearly opening to commerce — and potential conflict and hazards — like never before.
“All I know is, there is water where it didn’t used to be, and I’m responsible for dealing with that,” Admiral Allen said in a recent interview. Given the 8 or 10 years it would take to build even one icebreaker, he added, “I think we’re at a crisis point on making a decision.”