By Roberta Rampton
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed a faster timetable for buying a new heavy icebreaker for the U.S. Arctic, where quickly melting sea ice has spurred more maritime traffic and the United States has fallen far behind Russian resources.
The move, part of a push to convince Americans to support Obama's plans to curb climate change, has long been urged by Arctic advocates as climate change opens up the region to more shipping, mining and oil drilling.
The announcement came as Obama heads to the coastal town of Seward, named after Secretary of State William Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska in 1867 from Russia.
In the first step of Obama's new timetable, the government would buy a heavy icebreaker by 2020 instead of the previous goal of 2022. The United States used to have seven icebreakers, but the fleet has dwindled to three creaky vessels, only one of which is a heavy-duty vessel, the White House said.
"Russia, on the other hand, has 40 icebreakers and another 11 planned or under construction," it said.
Obama will have to convince Congress to pick up the tab for any new icebreakers, each of which come with a price tag of about $1 billion.
"The devil, as always, will be in the funding and procurement details," said Heather Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, who has studied the need for more Arctic icebreakers.
The region also needs enhanced navigation aids, satellite communications, deep water ports and other related investments not mentioned in the White House announcement, Conley noted.
At a time of dwindling big-ticket weapons programs, Obama's announcement lays the groundwork for the U.S. Coast Guard to launch a competition to build a new icebreaker.
"Great powers should have the capabilities for playing a role in the theater," said Malte Humpert, the head of the Arctic Institute, a think tank. "Russia is ready for anything that happens in the Arctic, and China is getting ready to have those capabilities," he said.
As the Arctic opens to more shipping, tourism and oil drilling, the United States risks not having enough capacity to carry out search and rescue and oil spill response missions.
Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, which built the newest U.S. ice breaker and delivered it in 1999, said it was keen to bid on new hardened ships for the Coast Guard.
General Dynamics Corp (NYSE:GD), the other large U.S. military shipbuilder and a possible bidder in an ice breaker competition, had no immediate comment.
The company that built the other existing U.S. icebreakers, Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction, has exited the business and its shipyard was shut down in 1988.
It usually takes up to 10 years to build an icebreaker, and it was not immediately clear when any proposed new vessel might be ready.
The White House also said the government should start planning for additional vessels. The Coast Guard has previously recommended it needs eight icebreakers, although no administration budget has yet included the huge funding request.
The Coast Guard had no immediate comment about the White House push.