Two new Coast Guard icebreakers will be homeported in Kodiak, according to a press release posted by the U.S. Coast Guard on June 11.
A third icebreaker will be homeported in Seward when construction of supporting infrastructure in the town is completed. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke about the announcement alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan on a press call today.
“This announcement today from the Coast Guard is not just cause for celebration for Kodiak and Seward, this is cause for celebration for the entire state of Alaska,” she said.
According to the release, the first of the icebreakers will arrive in Kodiak by the end of 2028. They are the second, third, and fourth icebreakers to be announced as homeported in Alaska. A previously announced icebreaker, built from a converted oil ship called the Storis, will arrive in Juneau in 2029.
Arctic Security cutters are a new class of medium-sized icebreakers. The vessels are the first of their kind in the United States, according to the press release, with a heavier focus on security than the Coast Guard’s existing three icebreakers.
Murkowski said during the press call that the introduction of the vessels is part of a greater push to expand the Coast Guard’s presence in the Arctic. Particularly as the climate warms and Arctic ice melts, countries around the world are expanding their icebreaker fleets.
“We needed to get in the game because the United States was lagging woefully, woefully behind Russia, even behind China, countries that don’t, don’t even come close to the Arctic ahead of us in the icebreaker game," she said.
Last year, President Trump approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocated $25 billion to the Coast Guard, including nearly $9 billion specifically for the construction of new icebreakers. And according to a February press release, the Coast Guard has awarded contracts for eleven total Arctic Security Cutters. During today’s press call, Sullivan said that all eleven are slated for completion by 2035.
Kodiak is the largest Coast Guard base in the United States. The island homeports half of the state’s six cutters, and Base Kodiak is set to receive two more offshore patrol cutters in the coming years. The base is also expanding its housing capacity in preparation for additional personnel. Sullivan said that Kodiak’s housing was a key factor in the decision-making process.
“It’s actually just beautiful housing, it’s state of the art for the Coast Guard," he said. "Which is why they went with two.”
Seward is also in the process of building capacity for more Coast Guard activities. One of Kodiak’s offshore patrol cutters will also be going to Seward when additional housing units are finished with construction.
"Seward is going to be a Coast Guard town," Sullivan said during the press call. "This is absolutely exciting, not just for Seward, but for the Kenai Peninsula."
