A Note on the Helsingin Sanomat Article

The icebreaker acquisition program that I said collapsed when President Biden took over in 2021 was separate from the Polar Security Cutter program.

In my article yesterday, Helsingin Sanomat Summarizes the Icebreaker Market, I quoted this section from their article (translated via Google, with some minor changes):

The country [United States] negotiated the construction of icebreakers in Finland in 2019–2020, i.e. at the end of Trump's first term. The project ultimately collapsed with Trump's defeat in the presidential election, because the Joe Biden administration did not continue the project.

Peter Rybski, the then Naval Attaché at the US embassy, wrote on his blog in January that if Trump’s deal had been successful, the US Coast Guard would now have two new icebreakers designed and built in Finland at its disposal, and in addition, the US would have leased the icebreaker Fennica.

Some readers commented thinking that I was referring to the Polar Security Cutter (PSC) Program. I was not.

The medium-term Finland option

The program that I was referring to, the ‘construction of icebreakers in Finland in 2019-2020,” that “collapsed with Trump’s defeat in the presidential election,” was separate from the Polar Security Cutter program. It was a medium-term initiative, pushed directly by the White House, to design and build several commercial spec Polar Class 2 icebreakers in Finland for the U.S. Coast Guard. (Note: Leasing Fennica was considered an immediate-term solution.)

The specific timing meant that at least two commercial specification vessels could be designed and built very quickly, and would serve as a mid-term solution until the U.S. Coast Guard could build enough of its own icebreakers via programs of record. President Trump was willing to push for the required Title 14 waiver to acquire these icebreakers from Finland then. I wrote in some detail about the program here:

What a Second Trump Administration Might Mean for Icebreakers

Unfortunately, the program was slow-rolled by the U.S. Coast Guard, and was dropped quickly once the Biden Administration took over.

As the U.S. Naval Attaché in Helsinki at the time, I was involved in the program including reporting on the capabilities of Finnish companies to design and build all kinds of icebreakers. I wrote many official reports and answered many questions at the time. Unfortunately, I never saw any of my reporting cited in official reports or spoken of in Congressional testimony. I started this Substack to put publicly available information regarding icebreakers in one easy-to-find location, with citations, so that perhaps it could be found and used in the future.

More about the Polar Security Cutter

The Polar Security Cutter program has not collapsed. Rather it has limped along falling further and further behind schedule while requiring ever more funding. Yet the U.S. Coast Guard maintains that it is finally on track (as it has been saying for years). For my most comprehensive writing on that program, see here:

Don't Double Down on the Polar Security Cutter

Thoughts and Comments

I’d like to point out that President Trump was pushing this mid-term solution even before there were delays in the PSC program, as the first PSC would only replace the Polar Star. This meant that the U.S. Coast Guard was likely still decades away from reaching its then stated requirement of six icebreakers. In 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard revised upward the number of required icebreakers to eight or nine, likely because they restored a requirement to provide the U.S. Navy “assured access” to polar waters.

I’m way above average for my number of weekly posts. You can expect more soon, as I have lots to write about and finally have some time.

All the Best,

PGR