Icebreaker News

U.S. President Donald Trump and Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb will meet on Thursday at the White House tosign a pact for the U.S. Coast Guard to buy up to four icebreaker ships from Finnish shipyards, the White House and Stubb said.Trump and Stubb have established friendly ties since Trump regained power in January, and the two met in March at the president's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and played a round of golf."I will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on icebreaker cooperation together with (U.S.

After developing the technique some five years ago, Aker Arctic has now completed the research required to get its new design methodology for icebreaker hulls accepted into the Finish-Swedish Ice Class Rules. The method has also been adopted to Polar Class rules of several Class Societies (LR, ABS, DNV).Although the research focused on vessels typically sailing the Baltic Sea, Aker Arctic has also used the methodology in many of its recent newbuilding designs including, for example, Canada’s new icebreaker which is currently under construction.

Finnish propulsion expert Steerprop and Seaspan Shipyards have expanded their collaboration on Canada’s next-generation polar icebreaker.Initially selected in late 2023 to supply two advanced ice-classed bow thrusters for the new flagship vessel, Steerprop will now also support the integration of the tunnel thruster into the vessel, ensuring hydrodynamic performance, smoother coordination with the shipyard, and reduced lifecycle costs. Seaspan’s heavy polar icebreaker is one of…

Le Groupe ALMACO, the Canadian subsidiary of Finland-based ALMACO Group, won a CAD 100 million+ contract by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. to deliver the outfitting of the Canadian Coast Guard’s Polar Max icebreaker. The project, part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), is a landmark program that will shape the future of Canada’s Arctic operations and strengthen Québec’s role as a global shipbuilding hub.Polar Max will be built through an international collaboration between Davie’s Helsinki Shipyard in Finland and its facilities in Lévis, Québec.

In a major move to accelerate the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet expansion, Bollinger Shipyards, Rauma Shipyards, Seaspan Shipyards, and Aker Arctic announced a partnership to deliver next-generation Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) under the Coast Guard’s multibillion-dollar icebreaker program.The collaboration combines U.S., Canadian, and Finnish shipbuilding expertise to meet the Coast Guard’s urgent Arctic mission requirements. Backed by nearly $9 billion in funding secured under President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”…

Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Stigterstaal Canada and Algoma Steel Inc. to explore a strategic partnership aimed at reestablishing a domestic steel supply chain focused on bolstering and expanding shipbuilding in Canada.The memorandum provides a framework for the three companies to assess the feasibility of Algoma Steel supplying Class and non-Class steel to Seaspan through Stigterstaal, who will act as a commercial and logistical subcontractor.

President Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' earmarks more than $8.6 billion to increase the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker fleet in the Arctic, where Washington hopes to counter rising Russian and Chinese dominance.The funding includes $4.3 billion for up to three new heavy Coast Guard Polar Security Cutters, $3.5 billion for medium Arctic Security Cutters, and $816 million for procurement of additional light and medium icebreaking cutters.President Trump has been pushing to revive U.S. shipbuilding to counter China's growing strength in maritime manufacturing and naval dominance.

Kongsberg Maritime signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) during Nor-Shipping 2025 initiating a collaborative effort to explore the design of India’s first indigenous polar research vessel.The proposed vessel is to support a wide range of scientific missions, including climate research, oceanography and polar logistics. It will incorporate Kongsberg Maritime’s integrated technologies to ensure safe, efficient and environmentally…

Seaspan Shipyards has cut steel on the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) new heavy polar icebreaker, marking the first time a heavy polar icebreaker has been built in Canada in more than 60 years.It will play a critical role in enabling the Canadian Coast Guard to transit and operate on more than 162,000 kilometers of Arctic coastline.The Polar Class 2 icebreaker will help sustain a 12-month presence in Canada’s North in support of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty, high-Arctic science (including climate change research)…

Canadian shipbuilder Davie has been awarded a contract by the Government of Canada for the construction of a polar icebreaker.Work will begin this year on the agreement valued at $3.25 billion. Davie will deliver its production-ready heavy icebreaker design called the Polar Max to Canada by 2030.To support the rapid delivery of the ship, Davie will capitalize on the expertise of Helsinki Shipyard, which was acquired by Davie in 2023 with the support of the Québec government. Helsinki…

A new era in Canadian shipbuilding is underway as Seaspan Shipyards has been awarded the contract to build one of the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) next-generation heavy polar icebreakers. This landmark project, part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), will reinforce Canada’s Arctic sovereignty, economic development, and scientific research capabilities while marking a historic revival of domestic polar shipbuilding.“Today’s contract signing is the next step in our journey of fulfilling the vision of the National Shipbuilding Strategy…

The Coast Guard gets its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years.The Coast Guard has accepted its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years, but it’s not really new. The 12,900-ton, 360-foot Anchor Handling Tug Support Ship (AHTS) Aiviq was acquired by the Coast Guard and renamed USCGC Storis (WAGB 21).According to a Coast Guard statement, “On Nov. 20, the Coast Guard purchased the M/V Aiviq, a 360-foot U.S.-built polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker for $125 million in a deal with Offshore Surface Vessels LLC.

The US Coast Guard will homeport its commercially procured icebreaker Aiviq in Juneau.The vessel was originally built to serve as an Arctic oil exploration support vessel and has an icebreaking capability sufficient to serve as a Coast Guard medium polar icebreaker, following modification.The Coast Guard was appropriated $125 million in fiscal year 2024 to purchase a commercially available icebreaker. Currently, the Aiviq is the only US built commercial vessel meeting necessary icebreaking standards.

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards has presented its progress towards completing the functional design on the first heavy Polar Icebreaker in Canada in over 60 years at CANSEC, Canada’s leading defense and security tradeshow.The functional design of the vessel is now more than 70% complete, and 3D modelling of the vessel is well advanced, setting the stage for Seaspan to cut steel on the flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet before the end of the year.With Canada’s current largest Icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S.

Seaspan Shipyards, Canada’s long-term shipbuilding partner for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Royal Canadian Navy, has awarded ABB a contract to deliver an integrated propulsion system for the first of the CCG’s new-generation polar class icebreakers.The vessel is expected to be one of the world’s largest and most powerful diesel-electric icebreaker when it enters service in 2030, with ABB supplying vessel systems complying with IACS Polar Class 2 requirements for year-round…

Australia’s icebreaker RSV Nuyina has been conducting sea trials in Hobart’s River Derwent as part of familiarization exercises with TasPorts pilots after returning from Singapore for repairs.The 160-meter vessel was built by Damen Shipyards in Romania and delivered in October 2021. In Singapore, issues identified with couplings that connect the propulsion shafts with the clutches were rectified under warranty.Nuyina will now depart Hobart for Macquarie Island research station in early May for cargo delivery and science support.

On October 6, 2019, a naming and flag raising ceremony was held in Vladivostok for Sovcomflot’s latest Arctic shuttle tanker. The vessel was named after Mikhail Lazarev, a prominent Russian admiral and explorer known for his discovery of Antarctica. The tanker was ordered by Sovcomflot to transport crude oil for the Novy Port project, under a long-term agreement between Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft.The ceremony was attended by Oleg Melnikov, Vice-Governor of Primorsky Region and Sergey Frank…

Rosatomflot (FSUE Atomflot), Russian company that maintains the world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, said that its nuclear icebreakers steered 331 ships of a total gross capacity 12.7 mln tons. As compared to 2017, the capacity of steered ships increased by 5 mln tons.The Rosatom group company said in a press release that with that, the number of steering operations decreased (last year it was 493 ships) due to completion of the active phase of construction in the port of Sabetta and reduction of flow of vessels carrying cargoes for construction.Besides, as liquefied natural gas shipments from Sabetta started by LNG tankers of Yamalmax class…

Bronze has been the preferred material for open water and low ice class ship propellers for decades, said Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic that operates an ice model test basin in Helsinki."Few years ago, Aker Arctic began investigating the possibility of using it also in high ice class vessels. In November 2018, the first bronze propellers based on the new strength dimensioning criteria were installed on the Finnish ice class 1A ASD tug Calypso," said a statement from the designer of icebreakers.While bronze is not as strong as stainless steel, it has a number of benefits in marine applications such as good resistance against corrosion and cavitation damage. The material is also easy to work with both during manufacturing as well as when carrying out maintenance and repairs.

As the U.S. Coast Guard moves to rebuild its icebreaker fleet we spoke with RADM Bruce Baffer (Ret.), head of Fincantieri’s effort to win the contract to build the Polar Security Cutters.The case for the U.S. to build a new class of icebreakers is strong. While news of global climate change and the shrinking ice caps at both poles is daily headline fodder, maritime navigation in and around the Arctic and Antarctic remains one of the most difficult and dangerous operating arenas on the high seas.

A new ice-breaking tanker capable of navigating the Arctic on its own is set to load its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment from Russia's fast-expanding Yamal facility.The Georgiy Brusilov left South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shipyard at the weekend and is due at Yamal's Sabetta port on Nov. 28, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.It is the eighth ARC7-class LNG carrier, which are longer than the Titanic, to join the Yamal fleet operated by Teekay, Mitsui OSK Lines and Dynagas, with another seven expected.The vessels have enabled Yamal's operator Novatek to ramp up production since its first LNG cargo at the end of last year…