(WASHINGTON) — President Trump on Thursday announced that Bollinger Shipyards, in conjunction with Rauma Marine Constructions, Seaspan Shipyards and Aker Arctic Technology Inc., will lead an effort to supply six Arctic security cutters under an initiative to deliver next-generation icebreakers to the U.S. Coast Guard by 2028, USNI News reported.
“We sort of have almost a monopoly on icebreakers if you think about it,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. “Nobody makes them like Finland – and I’ve heard that for a long time. So we’re going to have a total of 11, and it’s been really an honor working on it. It was very important that we’re making them.”
Among the 11 icebreakers, four will be constructed in Finland and the remaining seven are set to be completed in American yards, according to a White House news release.
Bollinger and Rauma will construct six of these vessels between American and Finnish yards. Construction on the first three icebreakers will happen simultaneously at both shipbuilders while the last three are set to be constructed at Bollinger’s Louisiana yard. These plans come amid Washington’s push to bolster its polar projection capabilities as competition for the strategic region ramps up.
“I remember our first conversation just after you had been elected in November,” Stubb said during the meeting. “The first thing you mentioned was icebreakers. We need them, and then we’ve been working on this issue ever since, and we’re happy to announce that we’ll basically building 11 icebreakers together. Four of them in Finland in joint endeavors, and then seven of them here.”
Until recently, the Coast Guard relied on a fleet of two icebreakers for operations in the North and South poles. The agency’s latest icebreaker, USCGC Storis (WAGB-21), was commissioned in August to bolster American presence in the Arctic. Storis was originally a commercial oil and gas vessel procured and upgraded by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The collaboration – also part of the broader American, Finnish and Canadian Icebreaker Collaborative Effort Pact – is set to see the six-ship order delivered by Bollinger and Rauma, a Finnish yard that specializes in the construction of arctic vessels. Derived from Seaspan’s and Aker’s multi-purpose icebreaker (MPI) design, the vessels are set to support allied operations in frigid environments.
Bollinger said the design can break up to 4 feet of ice, travel distances of 12,000 nautical miles and sustain its crew for two months of operations. The first of the six vessels is projected to deliver within 36 months of the contract award.
Aside from the Bollinger, Rauma, Seaspan and Aker combined team, Canadian shipbuilder Davie will construct a fleet of six icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard under a program that aims to protect the country’s eastern trade routes and provide maritime security in the Arctic.
