“We Need To Move Fast”: Led By Canada, Global Push For Icebreakers Heats Up

The global race to dominate the melting Arctic is heating up, and Canada is finally building the heavy icebreakers it hasn’t had in half a century. At Helsinki Shipyard last month, workers cut the first steel for Canada’s new C$3.3 billion ($2.4 billion) heavy icebreaker, the CCGS Arpatuuq.

Due in 2030, it will be the first such vessel built partly in Canada in over 50 years, according to Bloomberg. A second, the Imnaryuaq, is under construction in Vancouver. Together, they’re part of Ottawa’s plan to more than double its aging fleet as Arctic sovereignty and security take center stage.

The urgency rose after Donald Trump threatened tariffs and suggested Canada should become the 51st US state. Prime Minister Mark Carney responded with C$9 billion in extra defense spending, stressing that patrolling the Arctic is crucial.

Trump has his own ambitions: adding 48 icebreakers to America’s tiny fleet of three. A new tax law earmarked $8.6 billion, enough to start building 17. 

Bloomberg writes that globally, the competition is fierce. Russia leads with 47 heavy or medium icebreakers in service and at least 15 more in the pipeline. “Nobody has such a powerful fleet as us,” Vladimir Putin boasted in August, noting that eight of Russia’s ships are nuclear-powered. China, Finland, and others are also expanding. “I have never seen a demand signal like this in shipbuilding for icebreakers,” said James Davies, CEO of Quebec-based Chantier Davie.

Climate change makes the vessels more vital: thinner ice means new shipping lanes, year-round access to oil and gas, and more military activity. “Entrapment in a vehicle is particularly concerning in emergency situations,” one US official noted, highlighting safety concerns that echo beyond the Arctic.

Canada’s new icebreakers will support research, mapping the seabed, and monitoring traffic in contested waters such as the Northwest Passage. “We cannot see airplanes. We cannot see under water. Whether or not those are capabilities that the government of Canada might want for us to have in the future … is still something that will need to be determined,” said Neil O’Rourke of the Canadian Coast Guard.

Finland is a key partner: it builds 60% of the world’s icebreakers and designed Canada’s new ships. Its president, Alexander Stubb, put it bluntly: “We can churn them out in somewhere between two and three years. And we need to move fast.”