Competition heats up for US icebreaker work

Healy , shown here being replenished in Alaska in July 2022, is one of only three US operational icebreakers for missions in the Arctic and High North. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

With the US Coast Guard (USCG) getting funding earmarked for significant icebreaker expansion, countries and companies are battling for deals to do the work.

The latest pitch came from Davie Defense, which detailed plans on 10 September to develop what it is calling an “American Icebreaker Factory” – a planned USD1 billion transformation of the Gulf Copper shipyard in Galveston, Texas, to build new USCG icebreakers such as the Arctic Security Cutter (ASC).

The plans have the backing of Finland's Helsinki Shipyard – Davie Defense's sister company, which has built Finnish polar icebreakers over the past 25 years, Davie Defense said in a release.

Finland is looking to bolster its marine technology footprint in the United States, especially when it comes to icebreaker and passenger cruise ship programmes and potentially along similar lines as other foreign companies that have increased their efforts in the sector, Ulla Lainio, commercial counsellor for the Finnish embassy in Washington, DC, told Janes in a 23 April interview.

“Finnish industry is establishing [itself] here in [the] US and strengthening domestic supply chains here,” Lainio told Janes . “And demand is stronger for [ships with] Arctic capabilities,” she said. “We are co-operating with the US in that sector.”

For example, Lainio noted, “Finnish industries are supporting icebreakers, design, and manufacturing more often, and that has been a trend for years.”

Lainio specifically noted collaboration with the USCG, which is revitalising its icebreaker fleet.