GAO: Coast Guard should complete icebreaker SLEP cost estimate

The Coast Guard needs to finish figuring out how much it would cost to extend the life of its remaining heavy-duty icebreaker, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

"GAO recommends that the Coast Guard complete a comprehensive cost estimate for a limited service life extension of the Polar Star that follows cost estimating best practices before committing to this approach for bridging the potential capability gap," states a report released Monday.

The congressional watchdog agency states that the Coast Guard "plans to extend the service life of the Polar Star to bridge a potential heavy icebreaker capability gap, but has not completed assessments to determine the cost of the plan. According to Coast Guard planning documents, the Coast Guard faces a potential heavy polar icebreaker capability gap of up to three years between the end of the Polar Star's service life and the scheduled delivery of the lead replacement heavy icebreaker in fiscal year 2023."

While the service looked at various options to bridge the heavy icebreaker gap, the Coast Guard earlier this year determined a "limited service life extension of the Polar Star" would keep that vessel operational until fiscal year 2025, at an initial cost estimate of $75 million, according to GAO.

"However, the Coast Guard has not completed a formal cost estimate for this effort and we have previously reported that the $75 million estimate may be unrealistic," the report adds.

Inside Defense reported in July that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine had submitted a study to Congress recommending that the government launch a $3.1 billion program to develop and build a fleet of four heavy icebreakers.

That July 11 report called on the government to execute a block-buy contract to acquire the new ships, which would deliver a fleet with a common design and an average cost per icebreaker of $791 million.

A string of continuing resolutions hasn't helped long-term funding for icebreakers, though.

In April, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft said the service needed to accelerate the delivery of its heavy icebreakers, and noted that while the required FY-17 funding to achieve these goals was there, the continuing resolution that existed at the time could impact those efforts.

Zukunft told reporters in April that he felt secure about the ability to deliver a heavy icebreaker by 2023 as part of the goal to build out a fleet of three heavy and three medium icebreakers.

"There is funding in '17 to move that project along, but that's certainly held up under the continuing resolution," Zukunft said. "I am hopeful that we will see an appropriation so that we can move that out because I need to have that first ship delivered, that first heavy icebreaker by the year 2023."