US finalises $3.3bn contract for six Arctic Security Cutters
Bollinger and Finland's Rauma will build six Polar Class 4 icebreakers, with steel already cut on the first US-built ship.
The United States has finalised $3.3bn in contracts for six new Arctic Security Cutters, the Coast Guard's first major new medium-icebreaker fleet in decades. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed a $2.2bn deal with Bollinger Shipyards for four Polar Class 4 cutters and a separate $1.1bn agreement with Finland's Rauma Marine Constructions for two sister ships, all due by the end of 2031.
The awards complete the first phase of a planned 11-ship fleet, following a separate $3.5bn contract in May to Davie and Helsinki Shipyard for five larger Polar Class 3 vessels. Bollinger revealed it had already begun cutting steel for the first US-built cutter in April. Finland will build four of the first six ships before US yards ramp up under the trilateral ICE Pact involving the US, Finland and Canada.
The programme is the largest-ever modernisation of the US icebreaker fleet as Washington narrows a capability gap with Russia and responds to growing Chinese activity in the Arctic. The first cutters are due to be homeported in Alaska from 2028.
