Canada, U.S. and Finland form pact to build icebreakers for Arctic
Canada and the U.S. have been struggling to rebuild their icebreaking fleets
The United States, Canada and Finland have entered into a trilateral pact to build icebreakers for the Arctic region, the three countries said in a joint statement Thursday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.
The agreement also involves the sharing of expertise, information and capabilities among the partner countries.
"This partnership will strengthen the shipbuilding industries in each nation with the goal of creating good-paying jobs in shipyards, marine equipment manufacturers and many other related services across all three countries," the statement said.
The countries said they are also open to other countries joining them and the utility of the icebreakers is not limited to the Far North.
"In the Arctic, new, faster shipping lanes hold the potential to create new economic opportunities and drive down shipping costs. And in the Antarctic, our partnership can also foster increased scientific research and international collaboration," the statement said.
Both Canada and the United States have been struggling to rebuild their icebreaking fleets, mostly heavy or polar class icebreakers.
Under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy, a program was launched more than a decade ago, but the company in charge of the project, Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver, reported last May that design of the new vessel is only about 70 per cent complete.
Separately, Quebec-based Chantier Davie Canada Inc., a.k.a. Davie Shipbuilding, has been given a contract to design and build a fleet of seven heavy icebreakers, one of them a polar class, and two hybrid-powered ferries under a program that is expected to cost $8.5 billion.
Eight years ago, the Liberal government was warned in a report done for Transport Canada that the country's coast guard fleet was falling apart and desperately in need of new ships.
In January, the U. S. Coast Guard sounded the alarm that it needs new icebreakers as soon as possible. The service said it needs between eight and 10 new icebreakers to replace an aging fleet.
"This is a strategic imperative," a senior American security official said in a background briefing in Washington on Thursday, ahead of the announcement.
"And this will help build out our industrial capacity but also provide benefits to our allies, consistent with the message you've been hearing this week at the NATO summit. There's also a signalling benefit. The ice pact will reinforce the message to Russia and China that the United States and its allies intend" to be present in the polar regions.
Russia has a fleet of 40 icebreakers and more in production, the U.S. official added. China has declared itself a "near Arctic power" and has been engaged in a major program to construct icebreakers.
There was a tacit acknowledgement from the U.S. security official that both Finnish and Canadian expertise in the field of icebreaker design and industrial innovation surpasses that of the United States.
"We intend to scale up our capacity using the expertise and the know-how from Finland and Canada," said the official.
Two Canadian sources with knowledge of the file, who spoke on background, said the Davie shipyard, based in Lévis, Que., is the linchpin of the deal. The company recently completed the purchase of Finland's Helsinki Shipyard Oy, which until the war in Ukraine had been a major supplier for icebreaker hulls for Russia's nuclear-powered fleet. That market disappeared with the imposition of Western sanctions on Moscow.
It has also established an advanced design centre that is developing cutting-edge environmental and ship performance standards.
In a news release on Thursday, Davie said the new pact will mean more efficient, rapid and cost-effective production of much-needed icebreakers.
"While adversaries' shipbuilding industries operate on an effective war footing, Western allies markedly lack sufficient icebreakers and other specialized ships," the release said. "No single nation can solve this challenge alone, but trusted allies with common goals and advanced shipbuilding can."
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