Finland wants to help US dominate the Arctic

Finns say they can churn out icebreakers more quickly and cheaply than anywhere else, putting them in prime position as countries race to access the ­Arctic’s thawing seas.

A private icebreaking yacht, available for hire. Source: CharterWorld.com

Smashing ice is straightforward – except when it is more than 3m thick and you’re using a ship, even one designed for the job.

If an icebreaker’s hull is the wrong shape, the ice bends but doesn’t break. Without the right paint, the ship grates against the ice like sandpaper. Spin the propellers too fast or too slow and deflected chunks of subsea ice can make the ship reverberate like a gong.

Knowledge of pitfalls like these is why Finland has helped design or build some 80 per cent of the world’s icebreakers.

Finns say they can churn out icebreakers more quickly and cheaply than anywhere else, putting them in prime position as countries race to access the ­Arctic’s thawing seas.

President Donald Trump, who has pledged to buy or conquer Greenland, views the Arctic as a zone of future commerce and potential conflict. He has called for the US to make a new fleet of icebreakers – and engineers from Finland are lining up to help.

“Ice is our playground,” said Mika Hovilainen, chief executive of Finnish icebreaker designer Aker Arctic. The company, which has a 75m-long ice-simulation tank, is now designing ships for countries including Canada and Sweden, and hopes to play a role in US development plans.

“We want to be involved in every Western icebreaker,” said Mr Hovilainen, who was lead designer on 10 icebreakers.

“What does Finland have to offer the US? No 1 is icebreakers,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb in an interview.

“We build them faster than anyone in the world and at about half the price.”

The Wall Street Journal