U.S. in Talks to Buy 15 Icebreakers from Finland, Trump Says at NATO Summit

U.S. efforts to expand the country’s icebreaker fleet continue to pick up steam.

At the NATO summit in The Hague President Trump confirmed that the U.S. was in negotiations with Finland to buy up to 15 icebreakers from the country, including acquiring a used vessel currently available.

“I want to buy icebreakers, you are very good at icebreakers,” he said in response to a media inquiry from Finland during a press conference.

”You are the ‘King of Icebreakers’, you make ‘em good, really good. So we negotiated for 15 icebreakers, one of them is available now, it’s 5-6 years old, and we are trying to buy it, and trying to make a good deal.”

Recounting his meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in March 2025, Trump said: “I actually made him an offer. There is a used icebreaker, and we negotiated. We need icebreakers in the U.S. and if we could get some inexpensive ones then I would like to do that, they’ll fix it up and make it good.”

It is unclear which icebreaker he was referring to as Finland does not have vessels available this modern, apart from Polaris, which does not fit the USCG use profile. gCaptain reached out to the White House for clarification. 

Polaris, like most Finnish icebreakers, was designed for service in the Baltic Sea to escort commercial shipping at high average speeds. They use minimal crews, operating on 10-day port visit cycles. Very different from the USCG mission in the Arctic.

“It’s like offering my Miata to help someone transport their sofa when they are moving. Yes, it has four wheels, but…,” one industry analyst told gCaptain. 

Finish main daily Helsingin Sanomat reported last month that Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) could be supplying between three and five medium-sized icebreakers in a contract valued at $2.7 billion.

The country’s main icebreaker engineering firm, Aker Arctic, recently merged with ship designer Bluetech to further strengthen its ability to meet the growing global demand for icebreaking vessels.

Similarly, Canadian shipbuilder Davie bought Helsinki Shipyard yard in 2023 to strengthen its icebreaker portfolio. Earlier this month it acquired shipbuilding assets in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas from Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corporation, with the aim to turn Texas into the new U.S. icebreaker construction hub.

The USCG estimates that it will need 8-9 polar icebreakers, including 4-5 heavy vessels to fulfill its mission in the Arctic. 

The Coast Guard’s first addition to the polar icebreaking fleet in nearly 30 years is expected to be officially commissioned later this summer. Used icebreaker Storis departed from the Bollinger Shipyards in Pascagoula, Mississippi earlier this month and is en route to Alaska after passing through the Panama canal.

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