The U.S. Coast Guard’s newest commissioned icebreaker, the cutter Storis, arrived in Seattle on Friday following a 112-day inaugural patrol and will enter a six-week training period.
The cutter left Pascagoula, Miss., on June 1, then transited the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean enroute to conduct an Arctic patrol north of the Bering Strait. It was one of several Coast Guard vessels deployed to the Arctic, an area of strategic global competition. The vessel supported Operation Frontier Sentinel to counter foreign malign influences in or near Alaskan and U.S. Arctic waters.
While in Seattle, Storis’ crew will undergo training evolutions, system and program recapitalization, and a two-week underway phase with scheduled engagements in Victoria, Canada. The cutter will remain in Seattle until infrastructure improvements are completed in Juneau, Alaska, the cutter’s future home port.
“In the span of a few months, this crew has gained proficiency in the basics of operating the ship and we were ready to challenge ourselves,” Capt. Corey Kerns, Storis commanding officer, said. “Storis is different than most Coast Guard cutters, and this crew is proud and excited to demonstrate its value to the service and the nation.”
The Coast Guard commissioned Storis in Juneau on Aug. 10.