U.S. Finalizes Contract for Six Arctic Security Cutters
The U.S. Coast Guard reported this week that it has finalized the contracts for six Arctic Security Cutters to be built by Finland’s Rauma Marine Constructions and Bollinger Shipyards Lockport. It completed the order, which was first announced in December 2025, for a total of 11 icebreakers, with the other portion going to the Davie partnership, including Helsinki Shipyard and the new Davie shipyard in Texas.
The finalized contracts awarded to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, of Lockport, Louisiana, four ASCs, valued at approximately $2.2 billion, and Rauma Marine Constructions of Rauma, Finland, two ASCs, valued at approximately $1.1 billion. The first vessel under this contract is scheduled to be delivered in 2028, and all six vessels are scheduled to be delivered by 2031.
The interim agreements announced in December allowed the shipbuilders to begin planning, said the USCG, while the final details were negotiated. Helsinki Shipyard reported when it finalized its contract in May that it was already making preparations and that construction of the first vessel is scheduled to commence in the summer at the Helsinki and Pori shipyards. Reports indicate that Bollinger has also started work ahead of the finalized contract.
The Trump administration is placing a high priority on speed for this project. Reports have indicated the first two vessels will come from the two yards in Finland, and the Finnish partners will also work with their U.S. colleagues to develop the necessary shipbuilding skills for these icebreakers. It builds on a partnership between the United States, Canada, and Finland, first announced under the Biden administration.
Bollinger emphasizes that by leveraging a design already selected by close allies and supported by an established supply chain, the program offers significant advantages in sustainment, training, interoperability, and lifecycle affordability.
For the four cutters to be built by Bollinger, it emphasizes that it will leverage its integrated manufacturing network. Bollinger has a network of facilities along the Gulf Coast.
The other tranche of the program calls for two of five vessels to be built at Helsinki Shipyard in close collaboration with Sata Shipbuilding, with the remaining three to be built in the United States at the group’s Gulf Copper facilities in Texas. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2028, with the program running through 2035.
The USCG reports the ASC program is a cornerstone of the strategy to defend U.S. sovereignty, secure critical shipping lanes, protect energy and mineral resources, and counter adversary presence in the Arctic. It says these new cutters will enable the Coast Guard to control, secure, and defend U.S. Alaskan borders, facilitate maritime commerce vital to economic prosperity and strategic mobility, and respond to crises and contingencies in the region.
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The Coast Guard recently announced that two of the first of the new cutters would be homeported in Kodiak, Alaska. It also plans to put a third in Seward, Alaska, once port facilities can be built. It has been said that a fourth cutter will also likely be homeported in Alaska. This is in addition to the efforts underway to develop a homeport in Juneau, Alaska, for the Storis, which the USCG acquired as an interim vessel to expand its operations until the new vessels are delivered.
Bollinger is also executing the program for the new Polar Security Cutters. The project to build the heavy icebreakers to modernize the U.S. fleet has been badly delayed, with the first vessel now scheduled for delivery in May 2030.