By Peter M. Sanderson, 15 October 2025
According to the White House, President Trump has authorized the construction of up to four Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) abroad. The President also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Finland to construct these four ASCs in shipyards in Finland, then utilizing Finnish expertise to construct up to seven new ASCs in the United States at Bollinger Shipyards.
By agreement, the three tonnage classifications of ICE Pact icebreakers are: 26,000 ton, Polar Class 2, Heavy Icebreakers; 22,000 ton, Polar Class 2, Program Icebreaker (CA) or ASC (US); 9,000 ton, Polar Class 4 Multi Purpose Icebreaker. Just as Taiwan is known for chips, Finland is the center of excellence for these specialized, hard to build ships. The purpose of the friendly takeover by Chantier Davie, was keep the Finnish team together and working: design bureau, specialized steel, Helsinki yard and the supporting yard at Pori. The Helsinki yard construction hall is big enough to add the first ASC next to Canada’s first Heavy Icebreaker hull, which is presently undergoing construction.
Image: A graphic of the Multipurpose Icebreaker variant proposed by Seaspan, Rauma, Bollinger, and Aker for the US Coast Guard's Arctic Security Cutter. Credit: Seaspan
