The Juneau icebreaker is expected to make its first voyage here this summer, but the process of upgrading the cutter for U.S. Coast Guard service and installing the necessary homeport infrastructure in Juneau will still take several years, officials said Thursday.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) referenced the Storis — a private ship built in 2012 originally known as the Aiviq until the Coast Guard bought and renamed it late last year — in his speech to a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature. The 360-foot-long ship is set to be homeported in Juneau after extensive retrofitting to make it suitable for limited military duty in the Arctic, which Coast Guard officials have stated will likely take several years.
“(It) should achieve its initial operating capability, operating up in the Arctic, by August of this year,” Sullivan told legislators.
An email sent March 5 to Sullivan by USGC Lt. Marcus Calkins states “the Coast Guard is making preparations for Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Storis to conduct a patrol in Coast Guard District 17 (waters surrounding Alaska) in August 2025. Details regarding a commissioning ceremony to be held in Juneau, Alaska, will be forthcoming.”
Calkins told the Empire on Thursday a ceremony of some kind is likely in Juneau during the summer, although whether it will indeed be a commissioning ceremony and timing for the event are still uncertain.
The homeporting of the Storis is being hailed by local leaders as a significant economic milestone since Sullivan and Coast Guard officials have stated about 190 personnel are likely to be stationed in Juneau with the ship, and hundreds of millions of dollars in support infrastructure ranging from dock facilities to housing will be needed. The flip side of those plans is Juneau is suffering an ongoing shortage of housing and services such as childcare that are seen as key to luring and retaining employees in the capital city.
A Coast Guard spokesperson, in an email to the Empire on Jan. 6, stated an initial crew of 60 was expected to be assigned to the Storis in the summer of 2026.
“Once the CGC Storis has been retrofitted it will have a crew assigned, however it will be several years before families arrive in Juneau,” the email states. “In addition to making the Storis fit for military service, the Coast Guard will need to make shoreside infrastructure investments to accommodate the ship. The design work needed to determine the scale and scope of the project can take several years, and construction will take additional time.”
Sullivan told the Empire on Thursday the long-range timeline remains the same for Storis operations, which are intended to serve as a remedial measure until more capable newly built cutters are ready for service several years from now.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
