USCG’s Newest Icebreaker Storis Departs on Maiden Voyage
The U.S. Coast Guard announced the newly acquired icebreaker renamed Storis has departed on its maiden voyage from Pascagoula, Mississippi, presumably heading to the West Coast where she is due to be officially commissioned in August. The vessel was acquired from an Edison Chouest Offshore subsidiary, with the USCG reporting it was undergoing modifications to “enhance communications and self-defense capabilities.”
The icebreaker was acquired after a long lobbying effort with the USCG taking possession on December 20, 2024. She is being used as a stopgap to expand the capabilities of the USCG which currently depends on two aging polar icebreakers along with 21 domestic icebreakers and 16 ice-capable buoy tenders. USCG reports that Storis will expand the U.S. operational presence in the Arctic and support Coast Guard missions while the service awaits the delivery of the Polar Security Cutter class. The first of the newbuilds has been delayed multiple times with the current projected delivery in 2030.
The Coast Guard has told Congress that to fulfill its mission and meet operational needs in the polar regions, it requires a fleet of eight to nine polar icebreakers. President Donald Trump announced his intent to acquire at least 40 new icebreakers.
Built in 2012 by North American Shipbuilding Company in Larose, Louisiana and LaShip in Houma, Louisiana as Aiviq, the vessel was initially chartered by Royal Dutch Shell to support oil exploration and drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. She displaces approximately 15,000 tons and is a Polar Class 3-equivalent icebreaker with a length of approximately 360 feet (110 meters).
She spent long periods in lay-up or had been operating under charter before the latest effort for the USCG to acquire the ship. The USCG highlights the acquisition was made possible through the Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022 and fiscal year 2024 appropriations. It does not affect the ongoing procurement of polar security cutters and is not part of that program.
While the vessel is underway for the USCG, they report that the service will continue evaluating the cutter's condition and requirements to achieve full operational capability. Storis is currently commanded by Capt. Keith M. Ropella, who currently serves as chief of cutter forces at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C., and previously commanded Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star from July 2022 to July 2024. The vessel is manned with a hybrid crew consisting of military cuttermen and civilian mariners.
Storis will be commissioned in August in Juneau, Alaska, which will eventually be the vessel’s permanent homeport. Until the necessary shore infrastructure improvements are completed in Juneau, Storis will be temporarily berthed in Seattle, Washington, with the Service's two other polar icebreakers.