MILAN — After announcing it was buying U.S. shipyard sites to build icebreakers, the Canadian shipbuilding company Davie is zeroing in on the need for such ships in Sweden.
The intentions were made public in a recent LinkedIn post by Davie’s chief executive officer, James Davies, who said the Swedish “aging icebreaker fleet needs urgent renewal” and that the company’s “shipyards are open and ready.”
An assessment about Sweden’s lackluster icebreaking chops was part of a recent report by Helsinki Shipyard, which Davie has owned since 2023.
Sweden currently has six icebreakers, some of which were built several decades ago. In 2022, the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA), or Sjöfartsverket, issued a tender for the construction of two new icebreakers, with the first one expected to be delivered in 2026.
The plan never materialized, as the SMA stated in 2024 that no bids met their outlined requirements, per a report from the Swedish media Sjöfartstidningen.
The acquisition process for new vessels remains ongoing, although no final decision on construction has been made, according to Aker Arctic, a private consulting company based in Finland.
Davie seems eager to move in on this opportunity, as it also organized in conjunction with the released report, a seminar on June 25 in Sweden focused on the reasons behind the Scandinavian country’s urgent need for new ice boats.
Last month, the Canadian shipbuilder announced its plans to buy two American shipyards located in Texas from Gulf Copper and Manufacturing Corp.
In an interview with the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, company officials said their objective was to utilize the sites to build new Arctic icebreakers by upgrading the existing facilities.
A Davie spokesman said he was not worried about the shaky state of affairs between Canada and the United States, prompted by President Donald Trump’s threats against the northern neighbor, hindering regulatory approvals for the company’s envisioned U.S. expansion.
“Our proposed American acquisition will be distinct from our other businesses – it’s important to point out that we are not only a Canadian business, we are a private international shipbuilding group and majority-owned by U.K. citizens with established operations in Quebec and Helsinki,” Paul Barrett, chief communication officer at Davie, told Defense News in an email.
The company has been owned by James Davies and Alex Vicefield since 2012, both of which are British citizens, and Davie’s parent group, Inocea, is also based in the United Kingdom.
“Rebuilding America’s shipbuilding base is a rare bipartisan priority – the growing gap in Western capability, especially in the Arctic demands urgent and collaborative solutions,” Barrett wrote.
Davie has also positioned itself as a crucial industry partner in the trilateral Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact. The agreement, signed in 2024, looks to combine Finnish, Canadian and U.S. expertise to build advanced ice boats capable of year-round operations in the Arctic.
National coordinators and government representatives from the three countries met on June 12 to discuss strengthening icebreaking capabilities under the pact. Discussions focused on four areas of work: information-sharing, workforce development, allied and industry relations, and research and development.
“Each country presented their initial review and analysis of the Request for Information they conducted in their respective markets to gather industry input and recommendations – this will enable them to mobilize interested shipyards, supply chains and lay the groundwork for future private sector participation,” a statement from the government of Canada noted.
All parties are set to meet again this fall, with the next meeting to be held in the United States.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.