Latest news with #ICEPact
Cision Canada
2 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
STATEMENT - National Coordinators advance work on Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Français
Representatives from Canada, Finland and the United States met to discuss the next steps in the collaboration to build Arctic and polar icebreakers OTTAWA, ON, June 12, 2025 /CNW/ - The National Coordinators of the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) and other officials from the governments of Canada, Finland and the United States (U.S.) have successfully concluded a 2-day meeting to discuss their shared commitment to strengthening Arctic presence and icebreaking capabilities through the ICE Pact. During the discussions, delegates from Canada, Finland and the U.S. successfully advanced deliverables under the ICE Pact workplan by focusing on the 4 areas of work: technical expertise and information exchange, workforce development, relations with allies and industry, and research and development. The 3 countries each presented their initial review and analysis of their Request for Information, which collected industry views and recommendations within their respective markets. This will help in engaging with interested shipyards and supply chains, and in laying the groundwork for future involvement with the private sector. The delegates also participated in a panel discussion and roundtable with Canadian industry, academia and think tank representatives, hosted by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The event was an important forum to discuss the purpose and potential of the ICE Pact and identify opportunities for industrial collaboration. Participants shared valuable insights into the national perspectives on the ICE Pact and Arctic collaboration, promoting trilateral cooperation and strengthening stakeholder support for ICE Pact activities. The 3 partner countries concluded a successful meeting with a strong commitment to continue the ICE Pact work. They agreed to meet again in-person in fall 2025. The U.S. will host the next meeting.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scorned by Trump, Canadian shipbuilders flash their icebreaker skills
MILAN — President Donald Trump's ambition to build 40 new icebreakers in the United States is unrealistic given the current state of the national shipbuilding industry, which may require Washington to ask for Canada's help, according to a major Canadian shipbuilder specializing in the construction of such vessels. In a Jan. 24 press briefing, Trump announced a target of acquiring roughly 40 icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard. 'We're going to order about 40 Coast Guard big icebreakers – big ones – and all of a sudden, Canada wants a piece of the deal. … I say, 'Why are we doing that,'' he told reporters. On March 4, the U.S. government reinstated an executive order that hit its northern neighbor with 25% across-the-board tariffs and 10% on Canadian energy, triggering a continental trade war. Ottawa has responded with its retaliatory tariffs at the same rate but placed on a smaller basket of American goods. According to Canadian shipbuilder Seaspan, in charge of building two new heavy polar icebreakers for the country's Coast Guard, the Canadian naval industry already possesses the requisite know-how for Trump's plan. '40 icebreakers are fantastic, but that is pretty aggressive – I don't want to go against what Mr. Trump said, but I would say that the U.S. shipbuilding industry capability is pretty stressed and busy right now. … I think it's fair to say that it is not [currently] capable of doing that,' David Hargreaves, senior vice president of business development at Seaspan, told Defense News. 'He also said that Canada is trying to get a part of it – what we are trying to do is be a contributor to our neighbors and help them,' he added. The economic rift between the two nations does not appear to have negatively impacted the shipbuilding industry so far. On the contrary, companies from both sides of the border continue to engage in dialogue and appear determined to carry out business as usual. Davie, a Quebec shipbuilder, told Defense News earlier this year that it was moving forward with plans to acquire an American shipyard despite the threat of a looming trade war. Canadian and Finnish government representatives shared similar perspectives in Feb. 4 email statements, stating that the tense climate seen as of late between Canada and the U.S. had not compromised cooperation within the trilateral Icebreaker Collaboration Effort. While that agreement, signed last summer and known as the ICE Pact, seeks to bring together Finnish, Canadian and U.S. expertise to build best-in-class ice boats and cooperate in other areas, Hargreaves notes that Washington has the most to gain from it when it comes to gaining knowledge. 'I don't think it explicitly says this, but it is really about helping the U.S. to build their icebreaking capability,' he said. Whereas Finland and Canada have long histories of manufacturing these vessels, America has lagged behind. For example, the U.S. Coast Guard has not launched a new heavy icebreaker since 1976. U.S. regulations have previously required that military vessels be built domestically. Two new bills introduced last month by Utah senators Mike Lee and John Curtis, both Republicans, seek to modify these practices, placing greater emphasis on shipyards in NATO countries or in trusted Indo-Pacific nations for getting America's ship count up quickly. Regardless of the bills' prospects for adoption, Canada's Seaspan is already putting itself in a position to help out. 'We are exploring how a U.S. shipyard(s) could use our existing Canadian Coast Guard Multi-Purpose Vessel design, a polar class 4 icebreaker that could be relatively easily upgraded to class 3,' Hargreaves wrote in an email. Talks are already underway with the U.S. Coast Guard about cooperating. The Americans are 'very interested' in the ship design, according to the company.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Canadian shipyard in talks to buy US shipbuilder amid trade war talk
MILAN — Davie, a Quebec shipbuilder set to play a key role in a joint icebreaker production agreement between Canada, the United States and Finland, is moving forward with plans to expand its operations south of the border despite a looming trade war threatening the continent. As part of the expansion, the Canada-based multinational shipbuilder has set out to acquire an American shipyard, which would secure an initial and important footprint in the U.S. for the company. 'Right now it's business as usual with our U.S. entry plans. … We are also making progress with the acquisition of an established U.S. shipbuilder – if we are successful, we plan to upgrade as we are at the Quebec site,' Davie spokesman Paul Barrett told Defense News. Davie has envisioned transforming its Lévis, Quebec, shipyard into North America's largest, most versatile shipbuilding center. In 2024, it signed two contracts to this end, one with the American firm Pearlson & Pearlson Inc., and another with the Canadian construction leader Dinamo, to modernize the site in order to deliver seven heavy icebreakers and two hybrid ferries under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy. The project is supported by nearly CAD $519 million in investments from the Quebec government and will deliver in part six new buildings and machinery, a new assembly hall and launch pad, and waterfront upgrades. Davie has positioned itself as a crucial industry partner in the trilateral Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact. The agreement, signed last summer, seeks to bring together Finnish, Canadian and U.S. know-how, resources and expertise to build best-in-class ice boats capable of operating year-round in the Arctic. Recent remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that Canada and Greenland could become American states as well as the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian imports – tabled, for now – have casted doubts on the future of partnerships like the ICE Pact. However, both the Canadian and Finnish government have told Defense News that the tense climate witnessed as of late between the two neighboring countries has not compromised cooperation amongst the parties involved. 'We continue implementing it as planned and look forward to cooperating with our allies and partners, the U.S. and Canada – we believe all parties are committed to Ice Pact efforts, as there is a need to strengthen the capabilities,' Reko-Antti Suojanen, senior ministerial adviser and ICE Pact coordinator at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, said. All three countries are in relatively urgent need of bolstering their icebreaker fleets, as many are outdated or will soon be, while China and Russia have ramped up their shipbuilding efforts. 'The West's competitors and adversaries are rapidly expanding Arctic ice breaking fleets to exert control in the region – despite ambitious shipbuilding programs, the U.S. and its allies remain far behind,' Barrett, the Davie spokesman, said. Through the acquisition of Helsinki Shipyard in 2023, Davie gained access to Finland's leading icebreaker intellectual property, having produced much of the world's ice boat fleet. It is not yet clear to what extent the knowledge will be shared with the U.S. under the agreement. Barrett noted that Davie company expects to play a lead role in discussions on how their IP will be properly protected and applied within this framework. Once the Canadian manufacturer finalizes the purchase of the American shipbuilder, which the company declined to name, it will become the only one in the ICE Pact with a footprint in all three member nations.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can fresh icebreakers break the ice between the US and Canada?
MILAN — An agreement between Finland, Canada, and the United States to jointly build icebreaker ships may hold the key to deeper cooperation between the Arctic nations, as Washington has set out to boost its fleet against Russian and Chinese efforts to ramp up their own. The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact, was signed in July 2024 on the occasion of NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington. It aims to combine the three nations' knowledge, resources, and expertise about the Arctic region in general and polar icebreaker construction in particular. The core ambition of the agreement is to collectively build best-in-class ice boats capable of year-round operations in Arctic waters, plowing pathways for maritime traffic in a region being transformed by climate change. Teaming up in a cluster of countries, the idea goes, will lead to better prices and speedier deliveries for the governments involved. Officials signed an additional memorandum of understanding last November in Washington to emphasize that the strategic context of polar regions requires deeper economic and security cooperation between the three partners. The new U.S. president, Donald Trump, who was sworn into office this month, has since made disparaging comments about fellow Arctic players Canada and Greenland, suggesting that both should become part of the United States. The statement has prompted pushback from leaders in Canada and Denmark, of which Greenland is a district, with neither country prepared to have their territorial integrity challenged by a longstanding ally. A spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement of Canada, which represents Ottawa's central purchasing agent in the ICE Pact, said Trump's combative talk has not affected the spirit of the icebreaker agreement. 'Canada remains steadfast in its commitment to the ICE Pact, our collaboration efforts with the U.S. and Finland continue as planned – there are currently no changes to our agreement or initiatives,' a representative said in a Jan. 22 email to Defense News. The three nations have each appointed a national coordination team for the ICE Pact, which is working to formulate a plan of action through four working groups, the spokesperson added. Among the initial priorities outlined by Trump during his first term as president was the need to bolster America's icebreaker fleet. In 2020, he emphasized that the country needed a 'ready, capable, and available fleet of polar security icebreakers that would be operationally tested and fully deployable by fiscal year 2029,' he wrote in a memo. Washington is far from reaching this goal, then-commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Linda Fagan, noted during the Halifax International Security Forum last November. 'So as a nation, we have one heavy icebreaker … [Russia] has way more than one. It's close to 40,' she said during a panel discussion, as reported by National Defense Magazine. It is important to distinguish that even as icebreakers are a highly specific type of ship, countries have different ways of classifying them. While the U.S. and Canada use a classification system of light, medium and heavy ships for different types of ice cover, Russia's large fleet is typically split into categories based on their mission type and other technical characteristics. In 2023, the Canadian shipyard Davie took over Finland's Helsinki Shipyard, which produced over 50% of the global icebreaker fleet. The acquisition entailed a transfer of Finland's leading expertise, designs and trained personnel into Canadian hands. The current demand for such specialized ships is at an all-time high, a statement from Davie said, with over 80 open projects among Western countries as of last July. Experts have argued that the U.S. defense industrial base is set to greatly benefit from the ICE Pact, as America's naval shipbuilding industry has been beset by schedule delays and cost overruns.
