Finnish President Alexander Stubb broke the ice with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump quite literally, sealing an agreement on October 9 for the U.S. Coast Guard to authorize the construction of up to four Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) in Finland to address urgent U.S. national security needs in the Arctic region. This is seen as a temporary bridge until American shipyards can take on additional production.
“We need icebreakers in the U.S. And if we can get some inexpensively, I’d like to do that,” Trump said.
“It’s great that Finnish Arctic expertise is trusted,” Stubb said. “The cooperation benefits Finland and the United States, and it also opens up new opportunities for the Finnish maritime industry with our other allies. The agreement would not have been possible without President Trump,” the Finnish president said, adding, “Today was a good day for Finland.”
According to a statement from the President of Finland, the United States is investing in 11 icebreakers, four of which will be built in Finland. This memorandum of understanding lays the foundation for commercial agreements between the United States Coast Guard and Finnish companies, the Finnish government said, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard will enter into separate commercial agreements with the Finnish shipyards building the four icebreakers.
Bolstering Arctic defense
As global temperatures rise and ice melts, the U.S.–Finland icebreaker deal strengthens Washington’s presence in the Arctic where Russia and China are also growing their influence. “President Trump is ensuring the United States has the robust defense capabilities needed to protect American interests against global threats, particularly in the Arctic,” the White House said in a statement.
The memorandum signed between the U.S. and Finland addresses growing strategic competition, aggressive military posturing, and economic encroachment by foreign adversaries, all of which threaten U.S. interests in the Arctic, the White House statement said, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard’s small fleet of ASCs and Arctic-capable vessels is presently insufficient to meet current operations demands and presents a national security risk.
Currently, the Coast Guard’s operational polar fleet includes just two operational ASCs: One was commissioned in 1976; the other was previously a commercial vessel and commissioned into the Coast Guard just last month.
“The Coast Guard assesses that at least nine ASCs are needed in order to serve our national security needs year-round in the Arctic. Adversaries’ aggressive military and economic actions in the Arctic jeopardize U.S. sovereignty, shipping lanes, and energy resources,” the White House said.
It explained that construction of ASCs in Finland is a temporary measure to bridge a critical capability gap while spurring future domestic shipbuilding investment that will ensure the Coast Guard has the full supply of cutters it requires.
The deals with Finnish shipyards will create great jobs for Americans, bring cutting-edge shipbuilding technology to the United States, and result in billions of dollars of new investments in America, the White House maintained, adding that these new ships, most of which will eventually be made in America, will be among the most modern icebreaking vessels in the world.
Photo: Matti Porre / Office of the President of the Republic of Finland https://www.presidentti.fi/en/office-and-contact/for-the-media/
Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum to speed up the U.S. icebreaker program. As noted above, in August, the U.S. Coast Guard added an ASC to its fleet for the first time in 25 years — the first in a series of ASCs expected to join the Coast Guard soon.
The deal comes after the Coast Guard received nearly $9 billion in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill to build a series of heavy, medium, and light ASCs.
Arctic Security Cutters for U.S. Coast Guard
At a White House event on October 9, Trump announced that Bollinger Shipyards, in partnership with Rauma Marine Constructions Bollinger Shipyard (Rauma), Seaspan Shipyards (Seaspan), and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. (Aker Arctic), has been selected for the design and construction of six Arctic Security Cutters (ASC), Bollinger Shipyards said, adding that the Bollinger-led team will leverage the mature and production-ready Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) design, developed by Seaspan and Aker Arctic for allied missions in extreme polar environments.
Having the design knowhow of the original concept as part of the consortium formed by leading icebreaker engineering and manufacturing companies from U.S., Finland and Canada, Aker Arctic said the special purpose vessels can be built in time and on budget at multiple shipyards all leaning on their local strengths and capabilities. The six new U.S. Arctic Security Cutters will be built based on the same design made for the 16 Canadian Coast Guard Multi-Purpose Icebreakers (MPI) that will be built at Seaspan in Vancouver, BC, Canada.