The daily “Iltalehti” reported the speech of Vladimir Putin about the temptation of Americans with prospects for building atomic icebreakers. “Are they able to build even one atomic icebreaker in Finland?” – Putin asked at a meeting with business representatives in the Kremlin, which took place at the beginning of the week.
The leader of Russia referred to the meeting of Stubba with the US President Donald Trump in Florida, where both presidents played together at the end of March in the golf tournament. At that time, the Finnish president said that orders for icebreakers (which Finland is counting on) were the subject of talks, and the interest of the USA in these special ships is that the fact that Russia currently has 48 icebreakers, and the US does not have one. Finland is the largest supplier of this type of ships. 80 percent were designed in Finnish shipyards and about 60 percent were built all icebreakers in the world.
President Alexander Stubb stated, however, that He did not propose the US construction in Finland atomic drive icebreakers.
Finland denies reports from Russia
Russia is the only country that builds and exploits (primarily to sailing in the Arctic region) nuclear energy icebreakers.
US President Trump announced at the beginning of his term that The US could buy about forty icebreakers, and Finland is counting on part from the pool of orders. According to the information of the Helsingin Sanomat “Stocznia in Rauma (on the south-west of the coast on the Botnica bay), he negotiates with the US coastal guard the construction of at least several medium-sized icebreakers. The value of the order is estimated at approx. EUR 2.5 billion. However, these are not atomic icebreakers – emphasized the diary, citing sources.
“HS” reminded that in the late 1980s in one of the Finnish shipyards – at the request of the USSR – atomic hulls were created, but the reactor and driving mechanisms were installed in the then Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
In 2024, the USA, Canada and Finland signed the ICE PACT agreement (Icebreaker Collaboration Effort) regarding the construction of icebreakers in connection with the growing “meaning of the Arctic region for economic, national and climate security”, and practice due to greater interest and activity in the Polar region not only Russia, but also China.
