Davie Defense has finalised a $3.5bn contract with the US Coast Guard to build five Arctic Security Cutters, splitting construction between Finland and Texas under a programme running to February 2035, according to Davie Defense.
The order covers two medium icebreakers to be built at affiliate Helsinki Shipyard in Finland and three at Davie Defense’s Gulf Copper facilities in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas.
The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2028. The five ships form part of a wider US government programme for 11 Arctic Security Cutters as the Coast Guard expands its icebreaking fleet.
Davie Defense said the programme will support the transfer of Arctic shipbuilding expertise to the US and add industrial capacity on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The company acquired Gulf Copper’s shipbuilding assets in Texas in 2025.
A groundbreaking ceremony for development of the facilities is scheduled for 1 June 2026, with the project including up to $1bn in new investment in the US shipbuilding industrial base.
Davie Defense is a US shipbuilder and the US arm of Inocea, a UK-owned maritime industrial group with operations in the US, Canada and Finland.
Helsinki Shipyard is a Finland-based shipyard affiliated with Davie Defense and part of the same maritime industrial group.
Davie Shipbuilding is a Quebec-based shipbuilder within Inocea.
Gulf Copper is a Texas-based shipbuilding and repair business whose shipbuilding assets in Galveston and Port Arthur were acquired by Davie Defense in 2025.
