Maine Independent U.S. Senator Angus King is asking the U.S. Coast Guard to select Maine as the homeport for one of its new Arctic Security Cutters.

The ships are modernized icebreaker vessels being constructed for use as early as 2028 by the Coast Guard.

Senator King says Maine is the closest point in the continental United States to the Arctic, and would give the Arctic Security Cutters the shortest trip to their operating areas.

King says the new icebreaker could be based in Portland or Eastport, which are both deep-water harbors with year-round access.

“I write to urge that the State of Maine be selected as a homeport for the Service’s new Arctic Security Cutters,” Senator King wrote in a letter to the Coast Guard. “The decision to build out an 11-ship fleet is a generational investment in American presence in the high latitudes, and Maine offers the Coast Guard an ideal Atlantic homeport from which to project that presence.”

Read Senator King’s full letter to the Coast Guard here.