WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th September, 2018) The US Coast Guard's potential icebreaking capability gap is at risk of widening as a result of optimistic and ill-informed forecasting, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report.
"GAO's analysis of selected lead ships for other shipbuilding programs found the icebreaker program's estimated construction time of 3 years is optimistic," the report said on Tuesday. "As a result, the Coast Guard is at risk of not delivering the icebreakers when promised and the potential gap in icebreaking capabilities could widen."
The US Defense Department, according to the report, is investing $9.8 billion to build three heavy polar icebreakers for operations in the Antarctic and Arctic, with the first shipment due in 2023. The Coast Guard's only operating heavy polar icebreaker, the Polar Star, reaches the end of its service life in around 2020, the report noted.
The Coast Guard's planned delivery dates, the report added, were not informed by realistic assessments of shipbuilding activities, so now that 3-year gap is at risk of expanding.
In addition to scheduling, the icebreaker program faces design and technology risks, the GAO said.
"The program has not fully assessed how well key technologies will work in this particular effort [and] its cost estimate may underestimate the funding needed," the report said.
GAO conducted the probe because a provision in the 2018 US National Defense Authorization Act calls on the watchdog agency to assess risks related to the acquisition of icebreaker vessels. GAO also said it reviewed Coast Guard and Navy program documents and data and interviewed knowledgeable officials to produce the study.
