In 2010, the
High Latitude Mission Analysis Report identified a need for at least six new polar icebreakers, three of which must be what the USCG refers to as "heavy icebreakers". In the same year, the USCG's only operational heavy icebreaker at the time,
USCGC Polar Sea, was sidelined following engine failure. In 2012, the USCG launched a heavy polar icebreaker acquisition program and, in 2016, established an integrated program office with the US Navy to utilize the Navy's shipbuilding expertise for acquiring the new icebreakers. In February 2017, the USCG awarded five fixed-price contracts for heavy polar icebreaker design studies to
Bollinger Shipyards,
Fincantieri Marine Group,
General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO),
Huntington Ingalls Industries, and
VT Halter Marine. In addition to developing heavy polar icebreaker designs with associated cost and schedule figures, the goal of these industry studies was to identify design and system approaches to reduce acquisition costs and accelerate production timelines. In April 2017, a draft system specification as part of a
request for information (RFI) in which the USCG sought questions, comments and feedback related to technology risks, sustainability, producibility, and affordability of heavy polar icebreakers. A draft
request for proposal (RFP) was released in October 2017, followed by the official request for proposal for the advance procurement and detail design for a heavy polar icebreaker with options for detail design and construction for up to three vessels in March 2018. In September 2018, the Coast Guard announced that the icebreakers would be called "Polar Security Cutters", that they would have the designation WMSP, and that the Coast Guard wanted the icebreakers to be capable of carrying deck-mounted weapons if needed. The vessels will be homeported in
Seattle,
Washington. On 23 April 2019, the $745.9 million contract for the detail design and construction of the lead PSC was won by
Halter Marine. The contract also included options for the construction of two additional PSCs that, if exercised, would bring the total acquisition cost to $1.9 billion excluding government-furnished equipment.
Halter Marine, one of the shipyards that had previously participated in the heavy polar icebreaker industry studies, reportedly beat out competing bids from at least
Fincantieri Marine Group and
Bollinger Shipyards. In its press release on 7 May 2019, Halter Marine stated that it had teamed with Technology Associates, Inc. (TAI) and based its PSC design on the proposed German polar research vessel
Polarstern II. Other companies involved included
ABB and Trident Maritime Systems for propulsion system,
Raytheon for command and control systems integration,
Caterpillar for main engines, Jamestown Metal Marine for joiner package, and Bronswerk for the
HVAC system. On 30 December 2021, the USCG exercised the $552.6 million option for the construction of the second PSC. Initially,
Halter Marine anticipated that the lead ship would be delivered in summer 2024, with the second PSC in 2025, and the third vessel in late 2027. However, the lead ship has been delayed and the delivery may not occur until 2028. The
Government Accountability Office has identified four primary factors contributing to delay in PSC design maturity: general lack of experience for designing and building icebreakers in the United States, the complexity of the PSC's design, significant changes from the original design, and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2022,
Bollinger Shipyards announced that it would buy VT Halter Marine and oversee the construction of the Polar Security Cutters. On November 22, 2022,
Bollinger Shipyards announced it had completed the acquisition of VT Halter Marine and ST Engineer Halter Marine Offshore. Construction of the Polar Security Cutters will still be completed in Pascagoula, MS at what will be called Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding. In August 2023, Bollinger Shipyards began steel cutting for eight "prototype modules" for the first Polar Security Cutter. On 7 May 2024, the
Congressional Budget Office testified before the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security of the Committee on Homeland Security. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the total cost of three vessels would be $5.1 billion, about 60% more than the Coast Guard's estimate in March 2024, and the delivery of the first vessel would be in 2029. When subcommittee chair
Carlos A. Giménez asked why the Polar Security Cutter design was only 67% complete after five years of work, a
Government Accountability Office witness explained that nothing like the Polar Security Cutter has been built in the United States in 50 years; American shipbuilders have no recent experience building large icebreakers. Coast Guard Vice Admiral
Paul Thomas reminded the subcommittee that Halter Marine chose to base the PSC design upon the proposed
Polarstern II design, rather than upon an existing Finnish icebreaker suggested by the Coast Guard. Because the
Polarstern II has never been built, its design is necessarily incomplete. On 25 March 2025, Bollinger Shipyards secured a $951 million contract modification for the Polar Security Cutter program. The completion of the first vessel is anticipated by May 2030. ==Design==