Radio | Newsweek in plain Finnish | 12.10.2025

Finland builds icebreakers for the USA

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The topic of the week in the news is icebreakers.

The USA is ordering 11 icebreakers from Finland. 4 of them will be built in Finland. Finland has expertise that other countries do not have.

We will now tell you more about the US order.

The US orders icebreakers from Finland

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, President Alexander Stubb, President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington.

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Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, President Alexander Stubb and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. Photo: Jani Saikko / Yle

The USA and Finland have signed a letter of intent on icebreakers.

An icebreaker is a ship that breaks ice using its own weight. It opens a route for other ships in winter and in the Arctic, the northernmost region in the world.

President Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo met with President Donald Trump in the USA and signed the agreement.

Finland will first build 4 icebreakers in Finnish shipyards. Then the USA will use Finnish expertise and build 7 icebreakers in its own shipyards.

The total value of the deal is approximately 6 billion euros. Approximately 2 billion of this amount concerns the breakers, which will be built in Finland.

The agreement will provide jobs for thousands of workers in Finland. This is important because Finland’s economic growth has been slow.

Breakers are being built in Rauma and Helsinki

![-](https://images.cdn.yle.fi/image/upload/c_crop,h_3078,w_5472,x_0,y_224/ar_1.7777777777777777, c_fill,g_faces,h_431,w_767/dpr_1.0/q_auto:eco/f_auto/fl_lossy/v1760012464/39-153597368e7a61795968)

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Construction of icebreaker blocks. Helsinki shipyard. 8.10.2025 Photo: Mikko Koski / Yle

Finland is building its first 2 icebreakers at the Rauma shipyard. The Helsinki shipyard is planning to build 2 more.

The US wants to strengthen national security in the Arctic region. The US needs icebreakers for oil and gas exploration and science, for example.

President Trump said that Finland’s icebreakers are the best in the world.

Finland has special expertise in ship design, research in the field, and ship development.

Finland is an icebreaker superpower

small icebreaker breaks ice for a tanker.

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The USA has only a few icebreakers, and they are already old. Photo: Omar Faba / AOP

The US Coast Guard only has 2 icebreakers. They are old and in poor condition.

Finland has 8 good icebreakers.

Russia and Canada have dozens of breakers. China has increased its construction of breakers.

This is the first time the US has ordered icebreakers from abroad.

Finland is an icebreaking superpower. About half of the world’s icebreakers have been built in Finland.

The Ministry of Labor intends to ensure that the maritime industry receives labor now and in the coming years.

Repetition

Here was Uutisviikko in plain Finnish.

The topic of the week was the icebreakers that the USA is ordering from Finland. Four of them are being built in Finland.

Finland has expertise that other countries do not have.

News week again next Saturday. See you again, stay tuned!