Although China isn’t an “Arctic nation” and has no territorial claims to the far north, its leadership has viewed the region as a new “crossroads of the world” and a “new source of raw materials,” the United States Department of Defense warned last year. Since the 1990s, Beijing has become increasingly involved in the Arctic.
This comes as there is speculation that the Arctic Ocean could become ice-free during the summer months by 2050, which China has identified as an opportunity to engage in new shipping routes as an extension of its Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road initiatives.
Those efforts have increased, and earlier this month, the United States Coast Guard announced that it had responded to two Chinese research ships operating offshore of Alaska. One was a Chinese-flagged vessel, Ji Di, and the other, the Liberia-flagged Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di, with each reported to be approximately 200 miles offshore of Utqiagvik, the most northernmost American town.
The vessels were operating on the “extended continental shelf,” which is designated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as essentially within the United States’ “exclusive economic zone” (EEZ). While international law restricts a nation’s fishing, oil drilling, and scientific exploration to within 200 nautical miles of the coast, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows that to be extended if the continental shelf, which is generally shallower water, stretches beyond 200 miles, the Alaska Beacon explained.
More than 160 countries, along with the European Union, have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, it is complicated as Washington has not, even at the urging of Alaska lawmakers.
The U.S. Response
As the two vessels were reported to be operating over the delineated U.S. Extended Continental Shelf, the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District deployed its largest and most technologically-advanced polar icebreaker in its fleet, USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) to “monitor and query the vessels,” while an HC-130J Hercules fixed wing aircraft from Air Station Kodiak was also deployed Sunday to provide aerial support.
Both the icebreaker and the combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft operated under the Coast Guard Arctic District’s Operation Frontier Sentinel, which is designed to counter adversary activity in U.S. waters. The Coast Guard further announced it will continue to monitor ongoing Chinese activity in the region, where at least five Chinese vessels have been operating.
“This operation highlights the value of our ice-capable fleet,” said Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander, U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District. “The U.S. Coast Guard is controlling, securing, and defending the northern U.S. border and maritime approaches in the Arctic to protect U.S. sovereignty, and Healy’s operations demonstrate the critical need for more Coast Guard icebreakers to achieve that.”
The United States Coast Guard retains the only U.S. surface presence in the Arctic. Still, it works closely with the U.S. Northern Command and Alaskan Command to monitor foreign vessels operating in and near U.S. waters, thereby supporting U.S. homeland defense and security operations.
Although the United States Coast Guard remains a branch of the United States Armed Forces, it is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Expanding the Fleet
The increased threat in the Arctic comes as the U.S. Coast Guard is also stretched thin. Until this summer, it operated only two icebreakers, with one regularly deployed to the waters off the coast of Antarctica. As a result, this summer, the former oilfield supply ship and icebreaking offshore tug Aiviq was re-commissioned in a ceremony in Juneau, Alaska, as the USCGC Storis (WAGB-21).
It is the first polar icebreaker added to the fleet in 25 years. It will serve as a stopgap to support Coast Guard operations until the service receives the three still-in-development Polar Security Cutters, which are currently on track to enter service later this decade. The first Polar Security Cutter, USCGC Polar Sentinel (PSC-1), is now being built by Bollinger in Louisiana and is scheduled for delivery in 2028.
Even as the ice has been melting in the Great White North, icebreakers are still required for America to maintain year-round access to what is likely to be an increasingly contested region. In addition, the Trump administration approved a budget measure that will allocate $300 million towards improving Coast Guard facilities in Juneau, Alaska. Construction has yet to begin.
Cold War in the Arctic
China isn’t likely the most significant threat in the far north. Russia, an Arctic nation, has made it clear that it views the region as its backyard and domain, and this month commissioned the first of its new class of Project 23550 patrol icebreakers. The Ivan Papanin is the first of four vessels that will serve as patrol ships, tugs, and icebreakers.
Each will be armed with a 76.2mm AK-176MA main naval gun on the foredeck and multiple 12.7mm (.50 caliber) heavy machine guns, as well as eight Kalibr or Uran cruise/anti-ship missiles, carried in modular or containerized launchers.
