The United States and Finland have reached an agreement for the U.S. Coast Guard to acquire up to 11 icebreaker ships to bolster U.S. national security in the Arctic. “We’re buying the finest icebreakers in the world, and Finland is known for making them,” President Donald Trump said, sitting beside Finnish President Alexander Stubb in the Oval Office on October 9.
Under the agreement, Finland will construct four arctic security cutters (ASC) at shipyards in Finland, and then the U.S. will use Finnish expertise to build up to seven more ASCs in U.S. shipyards. The memorandum of understanding lays the foundation for commercial agreements between the U.S. Coast Guard and Finnish and U.S. companies. The document includes Trump’s waiver of domestic-build requirements, allowing up to four vessels to be manufactured abroad for a period of four years.
Three of the 11 ships will be constructed by shipbuilder Davie in Galveston, Texas. The company is owned by Davie Shipbuilding of Canada. Four vessels will be built by Bollinger Shipyards in Houma, Louisiana, which is already manufacturing a larger polar security cutter for the Coast Guard. The goal is for the first Finnish-built icebreaker to be delivered in 2028.
The 11 ASCs — medium icebreakers — are expected to cost about $6.1 billion. “I think this is a huge strategic decision by the president,” Stubb said, noting that the Arctic has become a geopolitical hot spot for the United States and other nations, including China and Russia.
Under guidelines provided by the Coast Guard in April 2025, ASCs will be able to break through nearly 1 meter of ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots; have a range of 6,500 nautical miles at 12 knots; and be able to stay at sea for 60 days. Each vessel would be up to about 110 meters long and up to about 24 meters wide.
Trump and Stubb have established a friendship since Trump returned to the White House in January. The pair met in March at the U.S. president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and played a round of golf at nearby Trump International Golf Club. “President Stubb and I look forward to strengthening the partnership between the United States and Finland, and that includes the purchase and development of a large number of badly needed Icebreakers for the U.S., delivering Peace and International Security for our Countries, and the World,” Trump posted that day on his Truth Social media platform.
At the Oval Office on October 9, Trump said the United States would defend NATO ally Finland if Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack, but “I don’t think he’s going to do that.” Stubb also minimized the short-term risk, telling Reuters that Moscow was not an “imminent military threat” to his country.
“To be honest, I think people need to be a little bit more Finnish, which means be calm, cool, collected, take a sauna or take an ice bath. Prepare,” Stubb told Reuters when asked about intelligence that indicated Russia could invade a NATO country in the coming years.
Trump has called for the United States to build as many as 40 new icebreakers to strengthen national security in the Arctic and counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Russia. Russia already has about 40 icebreakers, while the CCP has been sending research vessels to the region. Critics say the research vessels have a dual purpose: Collect data for scientific research, such as mapping the ocean floor and studying currents, and then harvest that data to support future military operations.