Following the liberalization of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev, the USSR dissolved in 1991, leading to the end of much of the Cold War hostility that had prevailed between the United States and Soviets since the end of World War II. In a show of thawing tensions and growing cooperative friendship between the U.S. and Russia, STORIS made an official visit to the Russian port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on 17 October 1992. The Russian cutter PSKR VOLGA had earlier visited San Francisco to take part in the U.S. Coast Guard’s two-hundredth anniversary in May 1990. VOLGA, part of the Russian Maritime Border Guard, an organization similar to the U.S. Coast Guard, was a patrol vessel in the former Soviet territories of the Bering Sea. While in Petropavlovsk, VOLGA moored beside STORIS and entertained the American crew with an elaborate ceremony. The crews exchanged gifts and established friendships. The two cutters also participated in a joint exercise during the visit. Officials in both countries declared that the visit helped to forge a greater bond between both nations and the ships and crews that patrol the Maritime Boundary Line in the Bering Sea.
The attached photo was graciously offered for publication as part of the National Register nomination for STORIS. It was taken 17 October 1992 by Dmitry Lomivorotov - дмитрий ломиворотов, of Omsk, Russia, Radio Operator, PKSR VOLGA.
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