Davie sees U.S. shipyards as key to winning icebreaker contract

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is seen, Sept. 8, 2021, in Kittery, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

The owner of Canadian firm Davie Shipbuilding said on Wednesday that the key to winning a contract to build icebreakers for the United States is to develop local shipbuilding capacity there.

Davie said in June it was acquiring Texas shipyards in Galveston and Port Arthur, and on Wednesday Alex Vicefield, CEO of Davie’s holding company British Inocea Group, said for the first time that the shipbuilder is bidding for the contract from the U.S. administration.

“It’s under discussion how they (the U.S.) would want to do it, but certainly, the key to it is you have to develop U.S. shipbuilding capability,” Vicefield told Reuters at Davie’s Helsinki shipyard, where the company was beginning construction of a US$3.25 billion, 139-meter (456-ft) Polar Max icebreaker bound for Canada.

Canada and Finland are renewing their icebreaker fleets, while U.S. President Donald Trump last month earmarked more than $8.6 billion for similar plans, to counter Russian and rising Chinese dominance in the polar regions.

The three nations last year signed the Ice Pact, an agreement to jointly develop their Arctic capabilities, but its future is uncertain after Trump’s chaotic trade policies sent U.S.-Canadian relations on a downward spiral. Trump says his trade levies will bring jobs back to the United States.

The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking eight to nine Arctic-ready icebreakers to add to its current fleet of three, while Canada in March ordered two new heavy icebreakers from Canadian Seaspan Shipyards and Davie.

“It is the boldest of statements to allies and adversaries, that Canada and Finland are determined to revive and rebuild the Western shipbuilding industry,” Davie CEO James Davies said in a speech.

The Canadian Coast Guard currently has 18 icebreakers, the second-largest fleet in the world after Russia, which holds around 40.

“(This new vessel) will help secure our northern trade routes and be able to advance our strategic interests in this important part of the world,” Canada’s minister of industry Melanie Joly said in a speech.

Finland is renewing its fleet of eight icebreakers, with construction of the first new one scheduled to begin in 2026.

Davie acquired the Helsinki shipyard from its previous Russian owners in 2023, following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“There’s a recognition that Finland, Helsinki, is the leader in icebreakers. America has a fleet of icebreakers, but it is older, and learning to build these very specific, difficult-to-build ships is very hard,” Davies told Reuters.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)