Shipyards in the U.S. and Finland are starting construction on the first three of six new Arctic Security Cutters (ASC) for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Bollinger Shipyards — which operates 13 yards throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida — is leading a multinational team to construct the new vessels, whose other partners are Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions, Canada’s Seaspan Shipyards, and Aker Arctic Technology.
Work on the first three boats will begin at Bollinger in the U.S. and in Finland at Rauma; they are due to be delivered within three years of the contract being awarded.
The ships will be based on the Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) design developed by Seaspan and Finnish firm Aker. They will be able to sail through ice up to four feet thick, and will have a 60-day, 12,000-nautical-mile range.
The second three boats are all scheduled to be built in the U.S. as part of the wider programme to rebuild U.S. polar capacity and secure a long-term American presence in the Arctic via the ICE Pact, a trilateral framework agreement between the United States, Canada, and Finland.
As per a Bollinger press statement “…[their] shared multi-mission design with the Canadian Coast Guard fleet will create the largest class of icebreaking capability in the world, optimizing interoperability and maintenance support.”
President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards Ben Bordelon commented: “The Arctic Security Cutter will enable the United States to rapidly project American power, enforce our sovereignty, and reassert American dominance in the Arctic.”
CEO of Rauma Marine Constructions Mika Nieminen added: “With a hot production line and our ice-class experience, we are ready to deliver the Arctic Security Cutters on an accelerated timeline in close cooperation with our U.S. partner and allied industry. Together, we will provide the Coast Guard with the world’s most capable Arctic security vessels.”
John McCarthy, CEO of Seaspan Shipyards, said: “This contract award demonstrates Seaspan’s world-class marine engineering and design capabilities on the global stage, and further expands North America’s capacity to design, build, and export Arctic-going vessels.”
And CEO of Aker Arctic Mika Hovilainen noted: “The ASC programme is a milestone for allied Arctic collaboration, and we are proud to help deliver world-class capability for the U.S. Coast Guard.”
- You can read more details on the Bollinger website and the Rauma website