Aiviq
The Alviq is an icebreaker built for Shell Oil to support oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea, in 2012.[1][2] She spent most of her first 12 years supporting off-shore oil rigs in the Arctic. However, in March 2024, after years of negotiation, the United States Coast Guard was authorized to purchase her, and modify her, to supplement its aging squadron of large icebreakers.[3]
Design
The $200 million USD vessel was built in Edison Chouest Offshore in Larose Louisiana.[1] The vessels primary task will be laying anchors for drilling rigs, but she will also be equipped to try to cope with oil spills.
According to Edison Chouest spokesman Gary Chouest, "It will be the world's largest and most powerful anchor-handling icebreaker."[1] In 2018 the vessel was called the world's largest privately owned icebreaker.[4]
The vessel was ordered in July 2009 and is scheduled for delivery in April 2012.[2] She is being built to American Bureau of Shipping A3 class -- capable of breaking ice 1 metre thick at a speed of 5 knots. Her propellers are reported to have been specially designed to be quieter than normal, in order to be less disruptive to local marine life.[5]
| length | 111.8 metres |
| beam | 22 metres |
| draft | 22 metres |
| ice class | 3 |
| complement | 65 |
Shell invited Inupiak schoolchildren to submit essays suggesting names for the vessel.[6] 12 year old Elizabeth Itta submitted the winning essay, describing how the Walrus, "Alviq" in the Inupiak language, use their tusks to break ice. She won a cash prize for her school, and an invitation to attend the ship's launch.
Operational career
Large offshore oil rigs require large tugs to support them, and the Aiviq was ordered to be chartered by Shell Oil Company to assist in its rigs off Alaska's north shore.[7] However, in late 2012, the Kulluk ran aground, and Shell wound down its efforts.
Subsequently the vessel got short term charters, including in the Antarctic region, in 2021, 2022, and 2023.[7]
The idea she might be purchased for the Coast Guard was first suggested in 2015. At that time the cost of adapting the vessel, and "militarizing" it was seen as prohibitive.[7]
The Coast Guard had relied, for decades, on three large icebreakers, the USCGC Polar Star and USCGC Polar Sea were sister ships, supplemented by the slightly newer, slightly less capable USCGC Healy.
The Aiviq was built in the United States - a requirement for Coast Guard vessels, and was new enough for planners to expect she could serve for at least an additional 15 years.
The Coast Guard's existing heavy ice breakers are equipped with both a flight deck, for a helicopter, and a hangar, where the helicopter can be worked on by mechanics, between flights, and where she can be protected from bad weather. As built the Aiviq has just a flight deck.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lisa Demer (2011-12-06). "Shell to unveil icebreaker for Arctic Alaska offshore drilling: Vessel will work waters off Alaska during oil exploration". Anchorage Daily News. Archived from the original on 2011-12-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20111207040934/https://www.adn.com/2011/12/05/2204274/shell-about-to-unveil-200-million.html. Retrieved 2012-01-26. "A longtime Shell contractor has nearly completed a massive, customized icebreaking ship for the company's drilling projects in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Susan Buchanan (2012-01-17). "Shell Awaits New Giant Icebreaker". Marinelink. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20220818235056/https://www.marinelink.com/news/exploration-icebreaker342119.aspx. Retrieved 2012-01-26. "In order for a ship to be “ice class,” the hull must be thick, and extra girders, beams and bulkheads are needed for structural integrity. The Aiviq is designed to American Bureau of Shipping A3 capabilities to operate in frigid, minus-40-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, and can slash through a meter of ice with 20 centimeters of snow at 5 knots, Smith said."
- ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard Plans to Buy Edison Chouest's Icebreaker Aiviq". Maritime Executive. 2024-03-05. Archived from the original on 2024-03-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20240306092133/https://maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-coast-guard-plans-to-buy-the-commercial-icebreaker-aiviq. Retrieved 2024-03-06. "Chouest and several members of Congress asked the Coast Guard to purchase the Aiviq in 2015-16, but the Coast Guard previously declined, arguing that the vessel “was not suitable for military service without substantial refit.” In what now appears to be a change of plans, the Coast Guard has issued a public notice that it will enter into a sole-source contract to buy Chouest's icebreaker."
- ↑ Pierre LeBlanc (2018-01-02). "An Out-of-the-Blue Icebreaker Opportunity". Maritime Executive. Archived from the original on 2018-01-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20180107085857/https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/an-out-of-the-blue-icebreaker-opportunity. Retrieved 2018-11-28. "The m/v Aiviq is a Polar Class 3 icebreaker built by North American Shipbuilders in 2012. It is reported to be the world’s most powerful icebreaker privately owned."
- ↑ Ted Land (2011-11-14). "Shell Offshore: Arctic Icebreaker Takes Shape". KTUU. Archived from the original on 2015-10-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20151018193343/http://articles.ktuu.com/2011-11-14/arctic-offshore-drilling_30399477. Retrieved 2012-01-27. "The Aiviq's specialty is moving anchors, which keep the drilling vessels in place. The ship is also a last defense against any stray sea ice that might disrupt drilling. It has a special design that allows it to ride up on top of the frozen surface and use its sheer weight to crush through ice up to a meter and a half thick. Shell likes to point out that the propellers were engineered to be as quiet as possible -- so as not to disrupt arctic wildlife, like bowhead whales, an ongoing concern among many subsistence hunters."
- ↑ "Winner of Ice Breaker Naming Contest". Shell Oil. 2011-12-09. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20120514135634/https://www.shell.us/home/content/usa/aboutshell/projects_locations/alaska/events_news/12092012_walrus.html. Retrieved 2012-01-27. "Elizabeth described in her essay how, "A walrus can use its big, long, sharp, and powerful tusks to break through the ice. The walrus is important to the Inupiaq culture because we love to eat the meat and muktuq." For her submission, Elizabeth's school was awarded a $5000 grant to the Inupiaq language program, while Elizabeth has the honor of naming the vessel, dinner with Alaskan musher DeeDee Jonrowe, and an invitation to attend the blessing of the vessel in New Orleans."
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Malte Humpert (2024-03-05). "U.S. Coast Guard Looking to Acquire Commercial Icebreaker ‘Aiviq’". G Captain. Archived from the original on 2024-03-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20240306021959/https://gcaptain.com/u-s-coast-guard-looking-to-acquire-commercial-icebreaker-aiviq/. Retrieved 2024-03-06. "The incident, along with other factors, ultimately led to Shell abandoning the drilling campaign. Most recently the Aiviq has been in the service of the Australian Antarctic program during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons."
