US Coast Guard commissions first icebreaker acquired in the last 25 years
Cutter Storis is the newest Coast Guard icebreaker. (Photo: Edison Chouest Offshore)
The Cutter Storis officially entered service with the Branch on 10 August. The new capability will be operated from Juneau, Alaska.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) conducted the commissioning ceremony of the Cutter Storis on 10 August. Previously known as motor vessel Aiviq, the 360-foot polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker was acquired from an Edison Chouest Offshore subsidiary.
The vessel will be homeported in Juneau, Alaska, and is the first extreme cold weather capability the branch has afforded to purchase in the last 25 years.
Adm Kevin Lunday, acting Commandant of the USCG, claimed at the event that it was the “first of the next generation of polar icebreakers” to be procured by the country to strengthen its “ability to defend the
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