The Coast Guard has officially welcomed its first polar icebreaker in more than 25 years – the recently acquired Aiviq, a commercial vessel that will be renamed CGC Storis.
Storis means “great ice” in Scandinavian. The name is also a nod to the original CGC Storis, a legendary light icebreaker and medium endurance cutter commissioned in 1942 that patrolled for submarines and ran convoys during World War II and led the first American transit of the Northwest Passage. In 1948, Storis was moved to Alaska where it conducted law enforcement, search and rescue, and humanitarian relief for 59 years until its decommissioning in 2007.
The new CGC Storis has undergone limited changes since its acquisition last month. These included painting the hull red and labeling the ship as WAGB-21. The vessel will be permanently homeported in Juneau, Alaska once the shoreside infrastructure is ready. The design and construction work for the homeporting project will take several years.
“The Coast Guard is thrilled to acquire this icebreaker,” said Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan. “Like its namesake, this cutter highlights the Coast Guard’s long history of operating in the Arctic and demonstrates our commitment to assert and protect U.S. sovereignty in the region.”
How it came about
The Coast Guard received appropriation for a commercially available polar icebreaker in 2024 to supplement mission readiness and capability in the polar regions while Polar Security Cutters (PSC) are built. At a time of heightened activity in the area – including the first joint Russian/Chinese patrol passing near Alaska this summer – the Service only has two operational polar icebreakers. Our medium polar icebreaker, CGC Healy, was temporarily sidelined after experiencing an electrical fire in July. Meanwhile, the CGC Polar Star, a heavy polar icebreaker, is nearly 50 years old.
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 future CGC Storis is expected to be capable of operating in waters that are otherwise inaccessible to most Coast Guard cutters.
What this means for future icebreakers
Buying the future CGC Storis won’t affect the acquisition of the PSCs. The Coast Guard still needs a mix of eight to nine polar icebreakers to meet its operational requirements. In a congressional hearing last month, Vice Adm. Peter Gautier, the Deputy Commandant for Operations, noted the challenges in the region were mounting. “I acknowledge we have a national security threat now from the increased threat of competitors who are working together in ways we have not seen,” he said, adding that the U.S. would be at risk without these new icebreakers.
The Coast Guard is authorizing the shipbuilder, Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding, to build the first 16 modules that will be incorporated in the first PSC, CGC Polar Sentinel, with estimated delivery in 2030.
In the interim, the future CGC Storis is expected to help bridge the gap and provide additional capability in support of national security in the region.
How was the new icebreaker named?
Before the future CGC Storis was acquired, a working group generated a list five potential names that were submitted to an official naming committee composed of senior officers and enlisted personnel. This group ranked their top three choices.
“Storis” was an early favorite given the long history and accomplishments of its namesake. In addition to its previously mentioned activities, the original CGC Storis:
- was first to arrive to the scene of the sinking CGC Escanaba in 1943, which was believed to have been torpedoed or hit a mine
- became the first U.S. registered vessel to circumnavigate North America
- was on scene for the largest U.S. earthquake (magnitude 9.2) in Alaska in 1964
- was the oldest commissioned cutter in the Coast Guard during its tenure, earning the title “Queen of the Fleet”
- participated in the 1990 rescue of the M/V Alaskan Monarch off of St. Paul Island, which was immortalized in the movie, “The Guardian”
How big will the crew be on this new icebreaker?
The initial commissioning crew of the future CGC Storis will consist of approximately 60 officers and enlisted personnel. They will be assigned in the summer of 2025.
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