Canadian shipbuilding company Davie, which owns Helsinki Shipyard, has signed a contract with the Canadian government to build a heavy icebreaker. The vessel will be constructed in Helsinki before being completed at Davie's shipyard in Quebec.
The project will be a joint effort between Finnish and Canadian shipbuilding experts, with delivery to the Canadian government scheduled for 2030. The order is part of Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy.
According to Canadian media, the order is valued at 3.25 billion Canadian dollars, or approximately 2 billion euros.
The new vessel will be based on Helsinki Shipyard's Polar Max icebreaker concept. This marks the first shipbuilding project at the Helsinki facility under Davie's ownership and is expected to increase the shipyard's workforce by approximately 500 employees.
"When Davie acquired Helsinki Shipyard, our goal was to restore its operations and bring its expertise back to Western markets. With the Polar Max project, we are finally realising that goal. In an unstable world, cooperation with trusted allies like Finland is crucial in shipbuilding," said Davie CEO James Davies in a statement.
The icebreaker is intended to serve as a research vessel capable of conducting oil spill response operations and emergency towing year-round. It is planned to be 138.5 meters in length.
US, Canadian and Finnish officials meet in Helsinki
Shortly before Davie's announcement, Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding a meeting on icebreaker cooperation between representatives from the United States, Canada, and Finland. The meeting took place in Helsinki on 4–5 March as part of the ICE Pact partnership, which was established last July.
While the newly announced order is not officially part of the ICE Pact initiative, Davie described it as a concrete example of the kind of cooperation that can emerge from the agreement.
This view was echoed by Reko-Antti Suojanen, the industry advisor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment leading ICE Pact efforts in Finland.
"This is a very positive development for Finland and one of the reasons why we joined the ICE Pact agreement in the first place. It brings industrial jobs and ship orders to Finland while supporting partner nations. As this order shows, it is a joint project between the Canadian and Helsinki shipyards," Suojanen told Yle on Friday evening.
National coordinators of the ICE Pact and representatives from the participating countries reaffirmed their commitment to the initiative.
They emphasised the goal of building state-of-the-art icebreakers, promoting economic growth, and revitalising the shipbuilding industry.
The meeting addressed technical collaboration in icebreaker design and production, workforce development at shipyards, cooperation with allied and partner nations and research, development, and innovation related to polar regions.
The next ICE Pact meeting is scheduled to take place in Canada in May.