The U.S. Coast Guard is working with the Canadian government to send its medium icebreaker Healy through the Northwest Passage in late summer as part of Washington’s strategy to expand American presence on the world’s oceans, Canadian officials confirmed late Friday.
Speaking during the annual address on the State of the U.S. Coast Guard in San Diego, California on Thursday, USCG Commander Admiral Karl Schultz said U.S. officials along with Global Affairs Canada are planning “a Northwest Passage transit for cutter Healy later this year.”
According to the Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee of the U.S. University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System, Healy will begin its voyage in mid-August in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and move east through the Northwest Passage. The icebreaker is expected to reach Nuuk, Greenland, in mid-September.
Officials at Global Affairs Canada said Friday that the U.S. Coast Guard approached the federal government regarding a possible voyage of the Healy through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the summer of 2020.
“As provided in the 1988 Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Arctic Cooperation (Arctic Cooperation Agreement), U.S. icebreakers require Canada’s consent to navigate through the waters of Canada’s Arctic archipelago,” Grantly Franklin, a spokesperson for Global Affairs, told Radio Canada International in an email.
“The United States has also submitted a request to conduct marine scientific research while in waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of Canada.”
The federal government is reviewing this request, Franklin said.
“Canada is currently collaborating with the U.S to make sure that the Healy will be in a position to respect Canadian rules and regulations, including those related to reducing the spread of COVID-19, while navigating in Canadian Arctic waters,” Franklin added.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Healy last transited the Northwest Passage in 2003. The last U.S. Coast Guard cutter to make the trip was USCGC Maple in 2017, Coast Guard officials told Radio Canada International.
Healy was crippled last August after suffering an engine failure that required a complete replacement of the 140-ton power train.
“Our Surface Forces Logistics Center successfully completed emergency repairs on the Healy, returning her to home port in preparation for a historic Arctic patrol this summer,” Schultz said.
The announcement by Schultz comes barely three months after the release by the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps of the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy, which called for a “sustained American naval presence and partnerships in the Arctic region.”
‘Back to normal’
Canadian defence expert Rob Huebert said the fact that Washington has asked for Ottawa’s consent for the transit is a “clear indication that the relationship is back to normal from the Trump era.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/icebreaker-northwest-passage-1.5948475