The US is purchasing icebreakers from Finland because they are "the finest in the world."

 
    Washington has ordered new icebreakers as a result of President Donald Trump's broader attention on the Arctic area and his insistence that the US must own Greenland.

    The US has turned to Finland, the world specialist, for these ships, which are capable of sailing across waters encased in solid ice.

    The scale model of an icebreaker cruises along a 70-meter simulation tank in Aker Arctic Technology's ice laboratory, where temperatures are below freezing.

It generates a clean path in the water's frozen surface.

    This design is being tested at a facility in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. "It's crucial that it has sufficient structural strength and engine power," explains Riikka Matala, an ice performance engineer.
    The company's CEO, Mika Hovilainen, adds that the vessel's design is also important. "You have to have a hull form that breaks ice by bending it downwards," he states. "It's not cutting, it's not slicing."

 

    When it comes to icebreakers, Finland is without a doubt the world leader. Eighty percent of those in use today were developed by Finnish businesses, while sixty percent were constructed at Finnish shipyards.
"Finland is the only country in the world where all the harbors may freeze during wintertime," says Maunu Visuri, president and chief executive of the Finnish state-owned company Arctia, which runs a fleet of eight icebreakers. He adds that 97% of the nation's imports come by sea.

    Icebreakers serve as pathfinders for large cargo ships and keep Finland's ports open during the coldest months. "For Finland, it is really essential. Finland is referred to as an island.
    Because of this knowledge, Trump declared in October that the United States will purchase four icebreakers for the US Coast Guard from Finland.
"We're buying the finest icebreakers in the world, and Finland is known for making them," Trump stated. Seven more of the ships, which the US is referring to as "Arctic Security Cutters," will be constructed in the US utilizing Finnish designs and experience.

 

    US law mandates that the nation's coast guard and naval vessels be built domestically, but in this instance, the president disregarded this requirement for reasons of national security. He mentioned "aggressive military posturing, and economic encroachment by foreign adversaries"—that is, China and Russia.
    The US is concerned because the Arctic Ocean is becoming easier for cargo ships to navigate due to climate change, at least if icebreakers take the lead and clear a passage. This creates commercial trading routes from Asia to Europe, either north of Alaska and the Canadian mainland, above Russia, and down past Greenland.

    Oil and gas resources beneath the Arctic are also more accessible due to decreased ice levels.
"There's simply a lot more traffic in that part of the world now," says Peter Rybski, an icebreaker expert based in Helsinki and a retired US Navy officer.
"You have an active oil and gas exploration and extraction industry in Russia, as well as a newly emerging trans-shipment route from Europe to Asia."

 

    The first contracts were granted on December 29, following Trump's preliminary announcement last September.
At its shipyard in the Finnish port of Rauma, Finland's Rauma Marine Constructions will construct two icebreakers for the US Coast Guard. Delivery of the first ship is scheduled for 2028.
    Together with Canadian partner Seaspan, Aker Arctic Technology will design all six of the diesel-electric vessels that will be built in Louisiana.

    In an attempt to match the quantity of Russian icebreakers, the US placed these orders. There are currently about 40 in Russia, eight of which are nuclear-powered.
In comparison, there are now only three in use in the United States.
    In the meanwhile, China has about five ships with polar capability. Rybski states, "None of them are technically icebreakers," citing the fact that their designs don't adhere to the rigorous requirements. "But they are increasing their fleet."

    He continues by saying that China has been sending more and more of these "research" ships into Arctic waters between Alaska and Russia's far east, including regions that the US regards as its "exclusive economic zone".

"With limited means to respond this becomes a problem [for the US]."

 

    Lin Mortensgaard, a scholar at the Danish Institute of International Studies, believes that Trump's ambition to expand its icebreaker fleet goes beyond the realities of operating in ice-covered Arctic seas. It's also about displaying power, she explains.
    "No matter how many aircraft carriers you have and how much you use them to threaten states with, you cannot sail your aircraft carrier into the central Arctic Ocean," she continues.

    "The only type of naval vessel that can truly indicate that you are an Arctic state with Arctic capabilities is an icebreaker. And I believe that a large portion of US discourse revolves around this."