Alaska Shadow Network demonstrates STARS, a 24/7 vessel‑tracking system to the Senate Arctic Affairs Committee

Buddy Custer, president and chief executive officer of the Alaska Shadow Network, demonstrated STARS — the organization’s Strategic Tracking, Alerting and Response System — to the Alaska State Senate Arctic Affairs Committee on Feb. 19, 2026.

STARS is a web‑based geographic information system that combines vessel tracking (AIS), weather and sea‑ice data, habitat overlays and pre‑planned response strategies to give decision‑makers a common operating picture, Custer said. "Every minute counts during an oil spill," he told the committee. "Our system enables real time alerts, rapid deployments of response assets, and coordinated actions to contain and mitigate environmental impacts."

Custer framed the system as a prevention tool as much as a response tool. He told senators that Alaska faces unique constraints — long distances, limited infrastructure and seasonal windows for training — that make prevention critical. "The most successful oil spill response in Alaska is the one that we can prevent from occurring," he said, adding that early detection and continuous monitoring allow responders to intervene before incidents escalate.

In his presentation, Custer supplied several operational metrics to illustrate exposure and the Network’s reach. He said the organization monitors roughly 10,000 vessel transits annually and identified 248 unplanned events from 2021–2025 that required engagement; the Network supports hundreds of companies and thousands of vessels and operates hubs and caches around the state. Custer also cited the organization’s inventories — for example, miles of containment boom and temporary storage capacity — as part of its response posture. He showed an example vessel record that listed a worst‑case planning discharge of 13,000 barrels and noted that vessel fuel loads are tracked in the system.

Senators asked about funding and participation. Vice Chair Senator Kenneth Stevens asked whether the Network accesses the state spill‑response fund. Custer said the organization is industry‑funded and that, under the usual framework, the responsible party pays for response actions; he said state funds might be used when there is no identifiable responsible party or in declared natural‑disaster scenarios. Senator Kawasaki asked whether all vessels are in the system; Custer said the Network collects the most commercial AIS data available for Alaska and tracks all vessels when possible, but public and defense vessels may not broadcast AIS for security reasons.

The demonstration included live layers for weather warnings, containment sites, geographic response strategies and geo‑tagged post‑storm surveys from community responses (Custer cited a recent response in Kipnuk after Typhoon Halong as an example). Custer described planned uses of artificial intelligence to speed anomaly detection, automate daily reporting and assemble preliminary impact and response plans by correlating vessel behavior with wildlife and community overlays.

Custer urged continued engagement with federal rulemaking, referencing legislation championed by the late Congressman Don Young to direct the U.S. Coast Guard to develop Alaska‑specific vessel‑response criteria. He also recommended that the state continue monitoring international cooperative exercises and the development of polar shipping rules.

The committee did not take formal action on the presentation. Custer invited legislators and staff to a March 3 "lunch‑and‑learn" demonstration and encouraged anyone in Anchorage to visit the Network’s coordination center. Chair Senator Giesel closed the meeting and said the committee’s next hearing, scheduled for the following Thursday, will feature a presentation on rural energy costs and nuclear power generation by Gwen Holdman of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. The meeting adjourned at 2:58 p.m.