After US expansion, Canada’s Davie shipyard eyes Sweden icebreaker gap

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 was 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.

米兰——加拿大造船公司戴维宣布将收购美国造船厂用地建造破冰船后，正将目光转向瑞典对这类船舶的需求。

Davie 的首席执行官 James Davies 最近在 LinkedIn 上发帖公开了这一意图，他表示瑞典“老化的破冰船队亟需更新”，并且该公司的“造船厂已经开放并准备就绪”。

赫尔辛基造船厂最近的一份报告中对瑞典破冰能力不足的问题进行了评估，该造船厂自 2023 年以来一直由 Davie 所有。

瑞典目前拥有六艘破冰船，其中一些是几十年前建造的。2022年，瑞典海事局（SMA，或称Sjöfartsverket）就建造两艘新破冰船发布了招标公告，第一艘预计将于2026年交付。

据瑞典媒体《Sjöfartstidningen》报道，该计划从未实现，因为瑞典海事管理局 (SMA) 在 2024 年表示，没有投标符合其规定的要求。

据总部位于芬兰的私人咨询公司 Aker Arctic 称，新船的采购过程仍在进行中，但尚未就建造事宜做出最终决定。

Davie 似乎很想抓住这个机会，因为它还配合发布的报告，于 6 月 25 日在瑞典组织了一场研讨会，重点讨论了这个斯堪的纳维亚国家迫切需要新冰船的原因。

上个月，这家加拿大造船商宣布计划从 Gulf Copper and Manufacturing Corp. 手中收购位于德克萨斯州的两家美国造船厂。

该公司官员在接受加拿大《环球邮报》采访时表示，他们的目标是利用这些场地，通过升级现有设施来建造新的北极破冰船。

Davie公司的一位发言人表示，他并不担心加拿大和美国之间因唐纳德·特朗普总统对北方邻国的威胁而导致的不稳定局势，这种局势阻碍了该公司设想的美国扩张计划获得监管部门的批准。

Davie 首席通讯官 Paul Barrett 在一封电子邮件中告诉《防务新闻》：“我们拟议的美国收购将与我们的其他业务截然不同——需要指出的是，我们不仅是一家加拿大企业，我们还是一家私营国际造船集团，由英国公民控股，在魁北克和赫尔辛基拥有成熟的业务。”

自 2012 年以来，该公司一直由 James Davies 和 Alex Vicefield 所有，他们都是英国公民，而 Davies 的母公司 Inocea 也位于英国。

巴雷特写道：“重建美国的造船基地是一项罕见的两党共同优先事项——西方能力的日益差距，尤其是在北极地区，需要紧急且合作的解决方案。”

戴维公司也已将自身定位为三方破冰船合作计划（ICE Pact）的关键行业合作伙伴。该协议于2024年签署，旨在结合芬兰、加拿大和美国的专业技术，建造能够在北极地区全年作业的先进破冰船。

6月12日，三国国家协调员和政府代表举行会议，讨论如何根据该条约加强破冰能力。讨论重点围绕四个工作领域：信息共享、劳动力发展、盟友和行业关系以及研发。

加拿大政府在一份声明中指出：“各国提交了各自市场信息征询的初步审查和分析报告，以收集行业意见和建议——这将使他们能够动员感兴趣的造船厂、供应链，并为未来私营部门的参与奠定基础。”

各方将于今年秋季再次会面，下次会议将在美国举行。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。