A commercial icebreaker will join the Coast Guard 's fleet by the end of the year, officials told lawmakers during a House subcommittee hearing Thursday on U.S. efforts to expand presence in the Arctic. The Aiviq, an oil exploration support vessel that has worked in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, is currently in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it is being adapted for Coast Guard use. According to Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, the Coast Guard's deputy commandant for mission support, its hull is now "