The Department of Homeland Security has approved full production of the first U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (PSC). The Service also received approval for low-rate initial production of the Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC).

The long-delayed project entails the replacement of the Polar Star, the sole remaining U.S. heavy icebreaker.  It facilitates the ability of shipbuilder Bollinger to ramp up hiring, allowing it to deliver the ship as quickly as possible. 

The PSC is the first heavy polar icebreaker to be built in the U.S. in nearly five decades. The Coast Guard is the sole federal agency responsible for icebreaking. Accordingly, the Service must replace, modernize, and grow its fleet of icebreakers to assure U.S. access and sovereignty in the polar regions. The U.S. Coast Guard is committed to working with the Administration and Congress to fulfill the President’s direction on icebreaker acquisition.

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Canada is facing interesting times, to say the least. The relationship with the United States is facing tensions over trade, tariffs, border security, and defence spending. The source of the tension appears to be American concerns over Canadian “free-riding” on defence and trade, and Canada posing a threat to American security. However hyperbolic some of the grievances, Canada is poised to act. Its defence spending is set to increase to meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP; the newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney, made that commitment in his electoral platform – a commitment that all major parties running supported in their own campaign plans. The Parliamentary Budget Officer assessed the program of work outlined in Our North, Strong and Free (ONSAF) and confirmed it will bring Canada to 1.76% of GDP by 2029-30. This assessment does not include the additional cost of the planned Canadian Patrol Submarine Project which will likely bring Canada to the 2% target.  For the border, the RCMP and the CBSA are implementing a series of measures on border security. The RCMP is using Blackhawk helicopters and drones to patrol the Canadian-American border in British Columbia, joint investigations are underway on opioids trafficking, and Canada has named a fentanyl Czar to coordinate the efforts to counter the drug.

The issue of defence spending has long been a difficult political issue, domestically. In terms of public priorities, some polling suggests that people are most concerned about the rising cost of living, the Canada-U.S. relationship, health care, and a range of other affordability issues with the threats from Russia and China ranking eleventh out of thirteen issues. Some public opinion polling shows that when asked an open-ended question about what concerns them most, Canadians identify defence spending as the third-least most important issue.  The Canadian public is not as engaged on the issue of defence as other issues that impact them more directly, and the Government of Canada has not meaningfully engaged the public on either the importance of national defence to Canada’s place in the world or the trade-offs required to surge defence spending.  Eugene Lang wrote an article in the Globe & Mail in July 2024 that discusses the need for Canada to explain to citizens the effort and trade-offs that will be required in order to reach defence spending levels that meet 2% of GDP. Lang points out that Canadians are capable of hearing hard truths, as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic, even if the Government is hesitant to do so on defence.

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At a Capitol Hill press conference yesterday, Senator Mark Kelly (D.-Ariz), Senator Todd Young (R.-Ind.), Representative Trent Kelly (R.-Miss-01), Representative John Garamendi (D.-Calif-08), and industry leaders announced the reintroduction of the SHIPS for America Act, landmark legislation to revitalize the United States shipbuilding and commercial maritime industries

One thing that emerged from the Capitol Hill event is that the measure has overwhelming industry support. In addition to the lawmakers, the press conference featured remarks from key supporters, including Matt Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America; Chief Mate Elizabeth Livi of the Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots; and Michael Fossum, Superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy.

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In the Beaufort Sea, which lies north of Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, there’s a wedge of ocean that has been in question for two centuries. As the border between Canada and America reaches the coastline, the two countries disagree as to which direction that boundary line proceeds into the tides. Canada says it should follow the 141st meridian west, extending the border between Alaska and Yukon. The U.S. asserts the line should instead be equidistant from the two nations.

Despite their differences, Canada and the U.S. have been able to resolve a wide range of practical issues, from the pursuit of oil and gas to commercial fishing in the region. The boundary disagreement hasn’t prevented the two countries from developing a seamless defence relationship to protect the region: the two coast guards operate on such a close basis, it’s hard to tell there even is a border. All of this is based on shared values and interests that have made the boundary issue seem almost irrelevant. But this may be about to change.

The re-election of Donald Trump has turned this relationship on its head — and is threatening to undermine it entirely. While Trump has not specifically mentioned the Beaufort Sea dispute, it is hard to see how the cooperation between nations can withstand what he has said.

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"On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced a plan for new tariffs,” shipping association BIMCO noted in a statement issued yesterday. “According to the announcement, US import tariffs will increase nearly 25% on the goods impacted. When accounting for goods so far exempted from the increases, overall US import tariffs will increase by 15-20%.

"We expect that the tariff increases will hurt US businesses and consumers the most as they will see cost increases on nearly 80% of imports. Countries affected by the tariff increases will naturally also feel the effect on the portion of their export destined to the US.

"Key US trading partners such as China, South Korea, Japan and the European Union have vowed to retaliate, further increasing the cost of global trade. Again, US businesses appear likely to suffer more than businesses and consumers in the countries that may retaliate.

"In the US, the tariffs are likely to lead to increased inflation and lower economic growth. Considering the importance of the US economy, this could in turn slow down global economic growth.

"In March, the OECD estimated the impact of a possible 10% increase on non-commodity imports by the US and a 10% increase by all other countries on non-commodity imports from the US. The OECD estimated that this could cause global output to fall by 0.3% by the third year and increase global inflation by 0.4 percentage points per annum on average during the first three years. World trade volumes were estimated to decline by close to 2%.

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Xenos Marine, a Matt Fish and Teichman Group affiliated company, christened its newly acquired TX-10,000 a one of a kind, heavy-lift engineering marvel after a mandatory five-year drydock maintenance on March 23 at Gulf Copper Shipyard.

Xenos Principals Kevin Teichman and Matt Fish welcomed invited guests followed by a blessing from Father Clint Ressler of St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church of Texas City.  

The vessel, TX-10,000, originally built by Versabar and later sold to TCM, a Teichman Group affiliate, in 2020, was acquired by Xenos Marine in December 2024. Xenos Marine, a joint venture between Matt Fish and the Teichman Family, renamed the vessel to reflect its new ownership.

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Marking a major milestone in the Coast Guard’s heavy polar icebreaker program, Bollinger Shipyards has been awarded a $951.6 million contract modification that advances the Polar Security Cutter program to the detail design and construction phase.

“Securing this contract modification has truly been a herculean effort and underscores the incredible trust the U.S. Government has placed in Bollinger to build and deliver the first heavy polar icebreaker in half a century,” said Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. “We wouldn’t be in the solid position we’re in today without the leadership and the tireless efforts of the entire team at Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding. Their hard work and dedication have successfully put the PSC program on a strong path forward after a rocky start under the previous, foreign-owned builder. We now look forward to receiving the green light to begin full production.”

“I am also grateful for the leadership of President Trump and his Administration in recognizing the urgent need for American-made icebreakers,” Bordelon added. “Because of his foresight and commitment to rebuilding America’s shipbuilding capabilities, this historic project is now moving forward.”

Bordelon also acknowledged Mississippi’s leadership for championing the PSC Program and state as a dominant force in shipbuilding.

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HII’s (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss.., has successfully launched future USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), the third Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be built at the shipyard.

DDG 129 is named for former U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Denton Jr., a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism as a prisoner of war. Following his Navy career, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, representing his home state of Alabama, in 1980.,

Shipbuilders transferred DDG 129 from land to the company’s dry dock using translation railcars to support the ship during the move. Once in the dry dock, the ship was floated and moved by tugboats to a pier at the shipyard.

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The recently-signed ICE Pact, focused on the development of icebreakers, represents a unique opportunity to revitalize American shipbuilding, a new report by the Wilson Center, a think tank, finds. It could function as a test-bed for shipbuilding and policy innovation. 

“If successful, ICE Pact will serve as a model for how government procurement programs for military vessels can act as an important tool of industrial policy to help U.S. shipyards sell vessels to a wider array of customers,” the report concludes.

U.S. shipyards face a formidable challenge to revitalize American shipbuilding and seapower in a world increasingly dominated by Chinese shipbuilders. Shipyards in China accounted for 75 percent of new commercial ship orders in 2024.

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The US Navy keeps falling short in shipbuilding, with costs too high and deliveries too slow, the service’s acting acquisition chief said in written testimony submitted for a House hearing on Tuesday.

“Deliveries are approximately one to four years late and costs continue to rise faster than overall inflation,” Brett Seidle said in the prepared remarks to the House Armed Services seapower panel. “These challenges are shared across the nuclear and conventional shipbuilding communities with both Navy and Industry sharing responsibility.”

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Increasing wages for shipyard workers is the top challenge when attracting and retaining everyone from pipefitters to naval architects, a naval analyst told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
For those in the trades – welders, electricians, pipefitters and shipfitters – the working conditions are “hot, cold and dirty” with wages only a couple dollars more than fast food workers, the Congressional Budget Office’s Eric Labs told the HASC.

At the same time, many shipyard workers’ cost-of-living expenses are rising faster than inflation, Labs said. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and remote work possibilities saw more highly paid white-collar workers moving from larger cities to more distant areas like Bath, Maine, the home of guided-missile destroyer builder General Dynamics Bath Ironworks.

Labs said that as a result housing costs in Bath are now comparable to Washington’s Northern Virginia suburbs.

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Whatever the truth, Trump’s lapse and separate comments from advisers have triggered nervousness and fresh scrutiny of the groundbreaking Aukus deal, which was struck in 2021 under Joe Biden.

“The question is whether that initial diplomatic coup can now be made into something that’s stable in the long run,” says Sidharth Kaushal, a sea power expert at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) in London.

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The US may not defend Nato allies who do not meet Donald Trump’s spending targets as part of a major shake-up of the alliance.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: “When I came to Nato, when I first had my first meeting, I noticed that people weren’t paying their bills at all, and I said I should wait till my second meeting.

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According to Canadian shipbuilder Seaspan, in charge of building two new heavy polar icebreakers for the country’s Coast Guard, the Canadian naval industry already possesses the requisite know-how for Trump’s plan.

“40 icebreakers are fantastic, but that is pretty aggressive – I don’t want to go against what Mr. Trump said, but I would say that the U.S. shipbuilding industry capability is pretty stressed and busy right now. … I think it’s fair to say that it is not [currently] capable of doing that,” David Hargreaves, senior vice president of business development at Seaspan, told Defense News.

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combined written statements from the wittnesses at the March 11, 2025, House Armed Services Committee hearing The State of Shipbuilding.

Statements are from Brett Seidle acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) for Research, Development and Acquisition, Ronald O’Rourke with the Congressional Research Service, Shelby Oakley with the Government Accountability Office and Eric Labs with the Congressional Budget Office.

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