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 in Larose, Louisiana and LaShip in Houma, Louisiana. She has been chartered by Royal Dutch Shell to support oil exploration and drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. The primary task of the vessel is towing and laying anchors for drilling rigs, but she is also equipped for oil spill response.
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 20-foot (6 m) 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.
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.
Here is the draft (i need to check some details ...)
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/USA%20AHTS%20Aiviq.png)
