Overview

• Presidents Donald Trump and Alexander Stubb signed a memorandum of understanding at the White House for four Finnish-built Arctic Security Cutters and up to seven more constructed in U.S. shipyards using Finnish know-how.
• U.S. production will be split with three ships at Davie’s Galveston, Texas, yard and four at Bollinger Shipyards in Houma, Louisiana.
• The administration targets first delivery in 2028 and projects billions in domestic shipbuilding investment and thousands of skilled trades jobs.
• Officials cast the expansion as a national security move to strengthen U.S. Arctic operations as Russia and China build larger polar fleets, citing Finland’s leadership in designing about 80% and building roughly 60% of the world’s icebreakers.
• The agreement sets the stage for commercial contracts and faces legal, workforce and scheduling hurdles; the White House cites two operational U.S. polar cutters, while some reporting notes a recent third following the Storis’s first patrol.