Canadian Shipyard Ridiculed By Trump Shows Off Icebreaking Technology
US President Donald Trump’s plan to build 40 new icebreakers domestically seems unrealistic given the current state of the domestic shipbuilding industry, and Washington may need to seek help from Canada, according to a large Canadian shipyard that specializes in building such ships.
Trump announced at a press conference on January 24 that his goal is to purchase about 40 icebreakers for the US Coast Guard.
He told reporters: “We are preparing to order about 40 large icebreakers for the Coast Guard, but Canada suddenly wants a piece of the pie… I say, why should we do this?”
On March 4, the US government once again issued an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on its northern neighbor and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy, triggering a continental trade war. Ottawa responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs at the same rate, but only on a smaller range of US products.
According to Canadian shipbuilder Seaspan, which is building two new heavy polar icebreakers for the country’s Coast Guard, the Canadian shipbuilding industry already has the know-how for Trump’s plan.
“Forty icebreakers is great, but it’s too radical. I don’t want to contradict Trump, but I will say that the U.S. shipbuilding industry is very tight and very busy right now. I think it’s fair to say that it doesn’t have the capacity to do it [at this time],” David Hargreaves, senior vice president of business development at Seaspan, told Defense News.
He also said Canada is trying to get a piece of the action; “We’re trying to help our neighbors,” he added.
So far, the economic gap between the two countries does not appear to have had a negative impact on the shipbuilding industry. Instead, companies on both sides of the border are still in dialogue and seem determined to continue business as usual.
Quebec shipbuilder David told Defense News earlier this year that the company was moving forward with plans to acquire a U.S. shipyard despite the threat of a trade war.
On February 4, representatives of the Canadian and Finnish governments exchanged similar views in emailed statements, saying that recent tensions between Canada and the United States would not jeopardize trilateral icebreaking cooperation.
The agreement, signed last summer and known as the Ice Charter, aims to integrate Finnish, Canadian and American expertise to build first-class ice vessels and cooperate in other areas, but Hargreaves said Washington would gain a lot in terms of knowledge acquisition.
“I don’t think he said it explicitly, but it is really about helping the United States develop icebreaking capabilities,” he said.
While Finland and Canada have a long history of building such ships, the United States has lagged behind. For example, the U.S. Coast Guard has not launched a new heavy icebreaker since 1976.
Previously, U.S. regulations required that warships be built domestically. Last month, Republican Utah Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis introduced two new bills aimed at changing those practices, focusing more on shipyards in NATO or Indo-Pacific countries that would quickly increase the number of U.S. ships.
Regardless of the bill’s chances of passing, Canadian company Seaspan is ready to help.
“We are exploring how U.S. shipbuilders can use the design of an existing multi-purpose vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard, a Class 4 polar icebreaker, which can be relatively easily upgraded to Class 3,” Hargreaves wrote in an email.
Discussions are currently underway with the U.S. Coast Guard about cooperation. The company said the Americans were “very interested” in the vessel’s design.
