Lucille Roybal-Allard: “I oppose this amendment and so does the Coast Guard. This is not a new issue. It has to do with a particular…”

“I oppose this amendment and so does the Coast Guard. This is not a new issue. It has to do with a particular, underutilized commercial anchor handling tug supply vessel, the Aiviq, which is owned by Edison Chouest Offshore, based in Louisiana. Over the last few years, the Coast Guard has been repeatedly pushed to lease this vessel. The Coast Guard has repeatedly made it clear that this vessel does not have the capability to adequately fulfill its multimission needs in the Arctic. The question before us is whether leasing this particular vessel for icebreaking would be a wise use of taxpayers' dollars, and whether it would benefit the Coast Guard more than investments in other priorities. The Coast Guard needs a heavy icebreaker as soon as possible, but this is not a heavy icebreaker, or even a medium icebreaker. According to the Coast Guard, the Aiviq is underpowered for icebreaking, making it unsuitable for ice rescue operations. It has an inadequate fuel storage capacity and transit speed, vastly limiting its deployment time. The Aiviq has no helicopter hangar, making it unsuitable for patrol activities, search and rescue operations, and self-rescue. It also has a propulsion system that lacks redundancy and reliability, and it does not have thrusters rated for ice operations. Beyond the inadequacy of the vessel's base icebreaking capabilities, the current configuration of the vessel is not suited to Coast Guard missions.…”