Davie to Acquire Texas Shipyards in Bid for U.S. Icebreaker Contracts
Canada’s shipbuilding group Davie reports it is fulfilling its commitment to invest in American shipbuilding with an agreement to acquire facilities in Texas. The company announced a year ago that it would invest in the U.S. shipbuilding sector as it continues to seek a key role in developing future icebreakers.
Under the newly announced agreement, Davie will acquire facilities in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas from Gulf Cooper & Manufacturing. The company reports it has two dry docks each in each of the locations and 4,000 feet of dock in Galveston and 1,000 feet in Port Arthur. Its focus is on ship repair, offshore services, and marine infrastructure. It serves the oil and gas, marine transport, petrochemical, and government sectors.
"A successful deal will open a new chapter for Gulf Copper," said Steve Hale, CEO of Gulf Copper. "For the first time in decades, complex shipbuilding could return to Galveston and Port Arthur.”
Davie reports once it secures contacts it plans to invest $1 billion to upgrade and expand capacity in Galveston and Port Arthur. The project it says could generate approximately 4,000 American jobs, with 2,000 directly at Gulf Copper.
“We share a vision with Gulf Copper to make Texas a world-class hub for American icebreaker and complex ship production,” said James Davies, President and CEO of Davie.
Davie reports it needs to complete negotiation with the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees as well as financial, legal, and regulatory closing conditions for the transaction. It expects to finalize the acquisition in the summer of 2025.
The Canadian shipbuilder has been actively pursuing the U.S. market and the opportunity for icebreakers. It is involved in the Canadian effort to build new icebreakers and received one of the two first contracts awarded in 2025 for its yard in Quebec. It previously also acquired Helsinki Shipyard, which it highlights has built half of all the icebreakers globally.
Davie states that it “possesses commercially viable, production-ready icebreaker designs that meet the U.S. mission requirements,” and would contribute to Donald Trump’s declared goal to dramatically expand the U.S. fleet. Trump has said it is an urgent national security gap that must be filled along with his calls to acquire Greenland.
The U.S. announced in 2024 a trilateral Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) along with Canada and Finland to accelerate the construction of icebreakers. Davie was reported to be a driving force contributing to the agreement between the three countries.
With its shipbuilding program years behind schedule for the new polar icebreakers, the U.S. Coast Guard recently acquired a commercial icebreaker which is currently on its first voyage bound for Alaska where it is scheduled to be officially named. The Storis will require additional upgrades to be fully operational. The USCG currently depends on two aging polar icebreakers (Polar Star commissioned in 1976 and Healy commissioned in 1999) along with 21 domestic icebreakers, and 16 ice-capable buoy tenders.