Locals tour icebreaker to be homeported in Juneau
- Ellie Ruel
- Aug 7
- 3 min read
Storis crew offering public tours of vessel Thursday and Friday as part of inaugural visit
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
Hundreds of Juneauites lined up around the perimeter of the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal parking lot Thursday afternoon to catch a glimpse of the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest icebreaker. Crew members stationed aboard the Storis led tour groups of eight around the ship. One tour was led by Matthew Kersey, assistant engineer officer for the icebreaker.
“I'm responsible for basically anything that makes the ship go anywhere, produce electricity, produce water, keep people alive,” Kersey explained.
The first stop after boarding was Storis’s winch room. He said before the Coast Guard acquired the vessel, formerly known as the Aiviq and owned by an Edison-Chouest Offshore subsidiary, it was used for oil exploration in the Arctic. According to Kersey, the ship has one of the best marine towing systems in the world, but the Coast Guard isn’t sure how they’ll make use of that yet.
“We're still trying to figure out what we want to do with this,” Kersey said. “The Coast Guard purchased this vessel for the front end to break ice.”
The next stop was the flight deck, which is unconventionally positioned at the bow rather than the stern. The deck can support 420 tons, more than enough for any of the helicopters in the Coast Guard fleet. After a question from an attendee about who could use the helicopter pad, Kersey noted that they’re in slightly unfamiliar territory with this vessel.
“It's forcing us to expand how we do things, other than just building a ship exactly to how we're used to it. So I would say it's probably pushing the Coast Guard outside of the comfort zone a little bit,” he said.
Along with the 46 Coast Guard personnel stationed on the Storis, 22 civilian mariners familiar with the ship are helping ease the transition of operations.
“We have a chief engineer who's been on the Storis for, like, over 10 years, so he's an excellent guy to learn from,” Kersey said.
Multiple people were curious about the icebreaking capabilities. Kersey explained that the Storis can employ both continuous icebreaking and ramming techniques, and claimed that the vessel could break six feet of ice at some speeds. A ProPublica report published earlier this year raises some questions about its history and design failures.
Other notable features included the on-deck crane, which was actively being used to load supplies for the next leg of the journey, and the bridge, which showcased a variety of machinery and steering equipment.
After the tour, one of the families aboard said they were excited about being able to see the inner workings of the ship. Their kids said the bridge, or “captain’s land,” and the helicopter pad were favorites.
The Storis will be open for more tours on Friday morning from 8-10 a.m., and its commissioning ceremony is scheduled Sunday.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
More photos from Thursday's icebreaker tours in Juneau. (All photos by Ellie Ruel / Juneau Independent)
