U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) has expressed support for a new agreement between the United States and Finland to construct up to four advanced polar icebreakers. The deal, valued at $6.1 billion, aims to enhance the U.S. fleet as Russia and China continue to increase their activities in the Arctic.
The partnership is part of the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE) Pact, which also includes Canada. The initiative is intended to accelerate icebreaker development and production by combining resources and expertise among the three countries, strengthening America’s Arctic security.
Senator Sullivan has played a key role in advancing U.S. polar security. As chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee overseeing the Coast Guard, he helped secure nearly $25 billion in investments for the service through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The legislation allocated $300 million for shoreside infrastructure in Juneau, Alaska, to homeport the USCGC Storis—the first new American icebreaker in decades.
“If any state in the country knows one of our national security challenges, it’s this and it’s us: We have an icebreaker gap,” said Sen. Sullivan in a video released today. “Right now, we have two icebreakers—one is broken—and the Russians have 54, many of which are nuclear-powered, and weaponized. But here’s the really good news: We are closing the icebreaker gap in a whole bunch of ways. Just in August, we were in Juneau to commission the Coast Guard icebreaker Storis. It was a great ceremony. I’d been working on that for ten years. The budget reconciliation bill has $300 million in shoreside infrastructure just for Juneau to homeport that icebreaker. Then, that bill also has the biggest build-up in the Coast Guard’s history for icebreakers, cutters, helicopters. I chair the Senate Commerce subcommittee in charge of the Coast Guard. We’re going to have at least 16 new icebreakers because of that bill—three are what they call ‘medium’ security icebreakers. Guess where I’m going to work my tail off to get them homeported? In our great state!
“Finally, yesterday, President Trump and the president of Finland announced more progress on this ICE Pact. $6.1 billion and having the Finns help us build and purchase icebreakers for us, hopefully for Alaska. I’ve talked to the President. I’ve talked to the president of Finland about this. President Trump’s been on this icebreaker gap way since his first term. This is real progress. The one state that’s going to benefit better than anyone is us.”
The ICE Pact with Finland and Canada represents an effort by allied nations to strengthen their presence and operational capabilities in Arctic waters.
