OREANDA-NEWS  The US Coast Guard could abandon the exercises in the Arctic because of fears that the only American heavy icebreaker could break. In this case,  US will have to ask Russia for help, writes Business Insider.

According to the publication, the US has two icebreakers, but only one of them belongs to the heavy type, which can be sent to the Arctic and Antarctica. This vessel Polar Star ("polar star"), which is more than 40 years old and it is almost over its service life. Therefore, according to the publication, the former commander of the us coast guard Paul Zukunft opposed when the national security Council planned to send an icebreaker through the Northern sea route to participate in the exercises.

"I can not guarantee you that he will not have catastrophic technical failures during the exercises ... then I would have to turn to Russia to be towed to a safe place," said Zukunft.

The publication notes that just largely due to the lack of icebreakers, the US is experiencing problems in the struggle for the Arctic, which is especially noticeable in comparison with Russia.

Earlier, the hill columnist Rafael Bernal said that after American President Donald Trump demanded to allocate five billion dollars for the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico, the plans to increase the US presence in the Arctic can be forgotten.

Earlier, the bill on appropriations in the field of internal security assumed the construction of a new icebreaker for the US army, which was planned to allocate 750 million dollars, but this item was excluded from the document on the initiative of some legislators, the author noted.

Given the fact that the US budget is spent on other purposes, Washington will not be able to expand its presence in the Arctic, said Bernal.

The American icebreaker fleet is in a terrible state, and to date only two old polar icebreakers remain afloat, said earlier NBC News journalist Sabrina Shankman.

However, as the TV channel notes, one of these operating polar Star icebreakers, built 40 years ago, has long overcome the expected life and is constantly breaking. Another icebreaker, Healy, built in 2000, is able to perform only a scientific function.

According to the most optimistic calculations, the minimum period when a new American icebreaker will appear in the Arctic is five years, while Russia already has 40 such ships in this region. And it will take billions of dollars, but the US government instead allocates money for the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico, emphasizes NBC.