USCG Icebreaker Storis Commissioned in Juneau

Sen. Dan Sullivan and Admiral Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), participated in the commissioning ceremony of the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Storis in Juneau Aug. 10, making it America’s first new icebreaker in a generation.

“We’re so excited that the USCG is bringing the Storis to life here as the first step in the next generation of the build-out of icebreakers in the United States,” said Admiral Lunday. “The Coast Guard operates all of our icebreakers and we need to ensure our access to the arctic region and preserve U.S. sovereignty and advance our national interests.”

The commissioning ceremony comes as the Coast Guard has secured more than $5 billion for three or more Arctic Security Cutters and a new class of icebreakers in the recently passed reconciliation bill.

Senator Sullivan has he has long championed the effort to build new American icebreakers and to procure commercially-available icebreakers, and to homeport them in Alaska in order to close the icebreaker gap in the Arctic amid rising tensions and increased activity from America’s adversaries, particularly Russia and China.

“With the arrival of the Storis to its new homeport in Juneau, we mark not just the commissioning of a vessel, but a strategic milestone in America’s Arctic future,” Senator Sullivan said.

“We’re very excited to be homeported here in the great city of Juneau,” said Admiral Lunday.

The addition of the medium icebreaker USCGC Storis (WAGB-21) will bring the Coast Guard’s icebreaker inventory up to three, as the Storis joins medium USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) and the only U.S. polar icebreaker USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10). Healy is largely responsible for the Coast Guard’s Arctic missions while Polar Star has the annual task of breaking out the U.S. McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Storis will be focused on the Arctic mission, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard bought Storis — formerly the commercial oil and gas vessel Aiviq built by Edison Chouset Offshore — for $125 million. The Coast Guard has indicated it would spend an additional $25 million to refurbish the ship, temporarily homeporting in Seattle, Wash., ahead of upgrades to the proposed pier in Alaska.

As chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee overseeing the Coast Guard, Senator Sullivan played a key role in securing the largest investment in the U.S. Coast Guard’s history—nearly $25 billion—in the One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law on July 4. This historic funding allocates $300 million to support shoreside infrastructure for the homeporting of the Storis.

“This ship is an investment in real capability, real people, and a real presence in the region that defines the next chapter of global security, commerce, and energy. The homeporting of the Storis right here in Juneau sends a clear and deliberate message: The United States is an Arctic nation, Alaska is an Arctic state, and the United States Coast Guard is a capable and growing Arctic force.”

At the ceremony, Senator Sullivan also welcomed the officers, crew, and families of the USCGC Storis to Juneau, recognizing their critical role in advancing America’s Arctic presence and executing a wide array of important missions in the state.

The United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, which is on its second life extension, is currently undergoing repairs in California. America’s one medium icebreaker, the Healy, recently suffered an engine fire and is in the process of returning to port for repairs. Russia has 55 icebreakers and is in the process of building more.

By 2025, China, which has no sovereignty over any Arctic waters, is set to surpass the United States’ icebreaker fleet, while the Alaska congressional delegation has long recognized this as a competitive disadvantage in the Arctic and advocated for additional resources to bolster the USCG icebreaker fleet.

“Arctic security is American security,” Senator Sullivan said. “This region is undergoing monumental change. Sea ice is receding. New trade routes are opening. Vast reserves of natural resources are becoming accessible. And our adversaries are moving fast to assert control. The Russians and Chinese are increasingly in our air and in our waters, including unprecedented joint operations. We had a joint Russian-Chinese strategic bomber task force in our Air Defense Identification Zone last summer, and we’ve had joint Chinese-Russian Navy task forces in our waters last summer and the summer before. These are not one-offs. These are warning signs. If we’re not ready to lead in the Arctic, others will—and they’ll be happy to do it for us. That’s why the Storis is so important.”

The commissioning is a culmination of Senator Sullivan’s years-long work to bring an icebreaker to homeport in Alaska, going back to his first term as a senator. In 2020, the senator began inquiring about purchasing a commercially-available icebreaker, advocating for it throughout the next two years with the USCG, Office of Management & Budget (OMB), and the White House administration.

In 2022, he was able to receive a commitment from USCG commandant, Admiral Linda Fagan to deliver a study, no later than fall 2022, on the potential homeporting of an icebreaker in Alaska. Later securing a provision in the 2022 Coast Guard Authorization Act authorizing $150 million for the expedited procurement of a commercially-available icebreaker, and the transference of 2.4 acres of waterfront property from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the USCG to facilitate the homeporting of an icebreaker in Juneau, Alaska.

In January, 2024 he worked with House and Senate Appropriations Committees for the purchase of a commercially-available icebreaker, and finally in July of this year, he is able to secure $300 million in the One Big Beautiful Bill to homeport the Storis in Juneau, Alaska.