Aiviq is an American icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) owned by Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO). The $200 million vessel was built in 2012 by North American Shipbuilding Company in Larose, Louisiana and LaShip in Houma, Louisiana. She was initially chartered by Royal Dutch Shell to support oil exploration and drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska where the primary task of the vessel was towing and laying anchors for drilling rigs, and oil spill response.
The vessel has been called the world's most powerful privately owned icebreaker.
Construction
In July 2009, Edison Chouest Offshore won a $150 million contract for the construction of an icebreaking anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel for Royal Dutch Shell. The vessel, largest ever built by the company, would be used to support Shell's drilling operations in the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea off Alaska. In January 2010, it was announced that the vessel would be constructed in Louisiana. The hull and the superstructure would be built in the company's own shipyard North American Shipbuilding Company in Larose in two separate units while the final assembly of the vessel would take place at LaShip, also owned by Edison Chouest, in Houma. In all, the construction would take just over two years and provide work for about 800 people.
Laid down on 3 February 2010, the newbuilding "Hull 247" was presented to Shell executives on 30 September 2011. By then, the price of the vessel had climbed to $200 million due to material and equipment factors, such as the price of steel. The vessel was launched on 1 November 2011. According to Edison Chouest spokesman Gary Chouest, "It [Aiviq] will be the world's largest and most powerful anchor-handling icebreaker."
In 2011, Shell invited Inupiak schoolchildren to submit essays suggesting names for the vessel. Twelve-year-old Elizabeth Itta submitted the winning essay, describing how the Walrus, "Aiviq" 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 launching ceremony on 24 March 2012. The vessel went for sea trials in April and was delivered on 20 April 2012.
The construction of the new icebreaker and Shell's Arctic drilling operation off Alaska raised concerns about the ability of the United States Coast Guard to operate in ice-infested waters since at the time the Coast Guard had only one operational icebreaker, .
In April 2015, it was reported that Edison Chouest would build two Polar Class 3 anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels at the company's LaShip shipyard in Houma, Louisiana. Unlike Aiviq, the new vessels would have been fitted with Rolls-Royce azimuth thrusters instead of conventional shaftlines and rudders. However, in November 2015 it was reported that Edison Chouest might have canceled the vessels following Shell's decision to halt Arctic oil exploration.
Career
Grounding of Kulluk
On 27 December 2012, while Aiviq was towing the mobile offshore drilling unit Kulluk off the coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska, the towing line between the icebreaker and the drilling rig parted due to a mechanical failure of the towing shackle. Shortly after the tow had been regained, the main engines of Aiviq failed and the vessel lost propulsion power in seas. In the following morning, power was successfully restored on one of the four main engines and the vessel was able to hold position in the heavy weather. United States Coast Guard cutter USCGC Alex Haley was dispatched to the scene to monitor the situation. In response to the incident, the Coast Guard, Shell and Edison Chouest established a Unified Command to coordinate the operation. Shell-contracted vessels Guardsman and Nanuq were also en route to the scene.
On 29 December, the Unified Command authorized the drilling rig to drop its anchor to slow its drift towards the coast and ordered the Coast Guard to evacuate the 18 crew members on Kulluk by helicopter as a precaution. Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters operated by the Coast Guard also delivered essential equipment parts to Aiviq and later power was restored on all four engines. Together with Nanuq, Aiviq was able to hold the drilling rig stationary during the crew evacuation and later continue towing the vessel away from the coast.