Rauma Marine Constructions in Finland has made rapid progress on the first of two Arctic Security Cutters it is building for the U.S. Coast Guard, with almost half of the vessel’s blocks already launched and construction of the second ship approaching, according to the Finnish shipbuilder’s chief executive.
RMC CEO Mika Nieminen told Finnish newspaper Satakunnan Kansa that production at the Rauma shipyard had advanced quickly after the final contract was signed earlier this summer.
“We have almost half of the blocks for the first ship launched. The start of production for the second ship is approaching,” Nieminen said, according to the newspaper.
The pace reflects preparation undertaken before the final contract was signed. According to Nieminen, U.S. trade regulations prevented RMC from formally beginning construction before the agreement was completed, but the shipyard had already produced prototype production units. That preparation meant the yard could move rapidly into series production once the contract took effect.
The Coast Guard awarded the contract for two Arctic Security Cutters in December 2025, with the vessels scheduled for delivery in 2028. The approximately $1.1 billion contract was formally finalized in July.
The two Finnish-built cutters are part of a six-vessel program led by Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards, with RMC building two vessels at Rauma and Bollinger constructing four in the United States. The ships are based on the Multi-Purpose Icebreaker design developed by Canada’s Seaspan Shipyards with Finnish icebreaker specialist Railo Technology, formerly Aker Arctic.
The mature design was a central element of the program’s accelerated schedule. Seaspan has said its MPI design was already production-ready when the Coast Guard selected the consortium, allowing construction to begin rapidly rather than waiting for a new design to mature.
The RMC vessels are part of a broader Coast Guard plan to acquire 11 Arctic Security Cutters, using Finnish shipbuilding expertise to accelerate delivery while transferring technology and production knowledge to U.S. yards. Four of the 11 vessels are being built in Finland, with the remainder planned for U.S. construction.
Separately, two additional ASCs are being built at Helsinki Shipyard under Davie Defense’s five-ship contract with the Coast Guard. Sata Shipbuilding in Pori began cutting steel for the first of those vessels in June, with the first ship also scheduled for delivery in 2028.
The parallel Finnish programs are part of the U.S.-Finland icebreaker cooperation intended to accelerate delivery of new polar vessels while expanding U.S. shipbuilding capacity. The Coast Guard expects the first ASCs to enter service from 2028, with the first two vessels planned for homeporting in Alaska.
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