4 Comments
Nov 17Liked by Peter Rybski

great piece and hits close to home. In January 2023, I put together a US effort to purchase Helsinki Shipyard from its Russian owners for exactly this reason. They are the best in the business. I was apparently the first American to knock on their door and propose buying them as they were being squeezed out. Over the following months, I ran around DC telling anyone who would listen I could have a best of class 40MW heavy diesel electric ready for sea trials in 32 months if I could get a lease. The response was anything but helpful. It was like running into 17 feet of ice. DAVIE, who was already in talks with HS, ultimately got the Canadian government aboard and beat us out. Good for them. They are a great partner to have. Beyond our own yards, he US needs to start building icebreaking vessels in Finland - and with other international partners.

The next Trump Admin is going to Make America a Great Arctic (MAGA) nation!

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author

It is unfortunate that some people in DC- and they know who they are- keep resisting those of us trying to help the U.S. Coast Guard acquire best-in-class icebreakers in a timeframe that matters.

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Pete, I’m glad that we are turning to the Finnish to help us out with this problem.

The reality is that in this field…

“They are the masters and we are but the learners…”

But once they teach us the tricks of the trade and how to actually build new icebreakers with the most cost efficient processes then we can use that old adage of imitation being the most sincere form of flattery and leverage our industrial capabilities and population in cranking them out.

I think this is no different than us copying the idea of armored flight decks and steam catapults for our aircraft carriers from the British and then mass implementing that tech into our own fleet.

I don’t care where the idea comes from, if it’s a good idea then we need to copy it and then use it as a springboard to even better technological breakthroughs.

Great article, as always. Take care.

Gerald

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Hopefully we'll get a Finnish icebreaker, and they'll help us build a few more. Then South Korea and LNG carriers use that as a model....

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