Aiviq becomes USCGC Storis, to be based in Juneau

The Coast Guard gets its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years.

The Coast Guard has accepted its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years, but it’s not really new. The 12,900-ton, 360-foot Anchor Handling Tug Support Ship (AHTS) Aiviq was acquired by the Coast Guard and renamed USCGC Storis (WAGB 21).

According to a Coast Guard statement, “On Nov. 20, the Coast Guard purchased the M/V Aiviq, a 360-foot U.S.-built polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker for $125 million in a deal with Offshore Surface Vessels LLC. The vessel, which was constructed in 2012, has supported oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska in the Arctic Ocean, and has deployed twice to the Antarctic. As a polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker, the Storis is expected to be capable of operating in waters that are otherwise inaccessible to most Coast Guard cutters.”

Currently, the Coast Guard has two operational polar icebreakers, the 399-foot, 13,000-ton heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB 11), commissioned in 1976, and the 420-foot, 16,000-ton medium icebreaker USCGC Healy (WAGB 20), which entered service in 1999. Polar Sea’s sister ship, USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10), has been out of service for