Finland has secured a landmark $6.1 billion agreement with the United States to build new icebreakers for the Coast Guard, marking one of the Nordic nation’s largest-ever export deals and significantly bolstering Washington’s Arctic capabilities as geopolitical tensions rise in the region.

President Donald Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a Memorandum of Understanding on October 9 for the United States to purchase Arctic Security Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard, with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also attending the meeting.

The United States is procuring 11 new icebreakers for its Coast Guard, four of which are planned to be constructed in Finland. This is the first time the United States is building icebreakers in another country.

Four of the vessels will be built in Finland, with media reports saying the orders will be split between Helsinki Shipyard, which is owned by Canada’s Davie, and Rauma Marine Constructions. The first of the Finnish-built vessels reportedly will be delivered in 2028.

The remaining seven icebreakers will be constructed in the United States using Finnish technology and designs, with three vessels to be built by Davie at its newly acquired shipyard facilities in Texas and four by Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana.

About 60% of the world’s icebreakers are Finnish-made, and 80% are designed by Finnish companies, according to Arctia, the state-owned firm which manages the country’s icebreaker fleet.

Finland is the only country in the world where all ports can freeze in winter. “We need to export and import stuff to be able to maintain people living in this country. That is why we need icebreaking,” said Jukka Viitanen, sustainability and communications director of Arctia.

This geographical necessity has transformed Finland into the world’s undisputed leader in icebreaker design and construction, making the partnership a natural fit for the United States as it seeks to rapidly expand its Arctic fleet.

The US order estimated at $6.1 billion, according to media reports, is a welcome boost for Finland, where unemployment is at a record high, and the economy is in the doldrums.

“This is great news. Our shipyards build the world’s best icebreakers and largest cruise ships. We also have an extensive subcontractor and partner network that together make a unique package,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Sakari Puisto.

In December, Finland’s Rauma shipyard confirmed a contract from the US Coast Guard to build two icebreakers, to be completed in 2028. Helsinki Shipyard managing director Kim Salmi told AFP that once the contract is signed, the first US icebreaker will be delivered 26 months later.

“It is not possible to sail through the Arctic Sea without icebreakers, and many big nations have interests in the Arctic right now,” Viitanen said. Nations such as China, Russia and the United States are scrambling to secure a foothold in the Arctic for strategic reasons and to access huge reserves of natural resources.

The US Coast Guard currently operates only three aging vessels, while Russia commands a fleet of more than 40 icebreakers. The capability gap has become a national security concern as melting sea ice opens new shipping lanes and access to untapped deposits of oil, gas, and critical minerals.

“America has been an arctic nation for over 150 years, and we’re finally acting like it under President Trump,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “Our adversaries continue to look to grow their presence in the arctic, equipping the Coast Guard with Arctic Security Cutters will help reassert American maritime dominance there”.

Despite the economic windfall, Trump’s territorial ambitions have raised concerns about the deal’s broader implications. Trump’s desire to acquire strategically-located Greenland has now raised “more and more” suspicions about the deal, said Sanna Kopra, an Arctic geopolitics and security professor at the University of Lapland.

Trump’s long-standing designs on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, have triggered tensions within NATO, raising questions about the intersection of Arctic cooperation and territorial disputes among allies.

This cooperation is also in line with the trilateral Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) between Finland, the United States, and Canada, which was initiated by the Biden administration in 2024 to share expertise in building a new generation of polar icebreakers.

The deal was funded through Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which included $3.5 billion for the Coast Guard to procure Arctic Security Cutters, underscoring the administration’s prioritization of Arctic capabilities.

By embedding US capital and capability in its shipyards, Washington is also welding itself to its partner’s stability. If something were to threaten Finnish industrial or territorial security, it would also threaten an American project.

The agreement represents not just an industrial partnership but a strategic alignment between two NATO allies as the Arctic emerges as a critical frontier in 21st-century geopolitics.