Page 56: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2025)

ICEBREAKERS and Russian Northeast, the North-West sea route to safe shipping distance. the transit was the Nordic Orion in

Passage (close to the Canadian coast), Sovereignty over the passage is a 2013. 2023 was a record year with 24 the Northern Sea Route (Murmansk in source of political tension. Canada completed transits through the pas- northwest Russia to Vladivostok near claims that the passage is part of its sage. In 2024, 18 commercial vessels

Japan) and the Transpolar Sea Route territorial waters. Others, including the completed the complete transit. 11 of (the largely icebound route closest to United States, claim that the water are the 2024 journeys were westbound (six the North Pole.). international. Under existing treaties, cruise ships and ? ve cargo ships) and

The Northwest passage refers to U.S. icebreakers can operate in the pas- seven eastbound (two cruise ships, four seven sea passages that passes through sage subject to seeking Canada’s per- cargo ships and one tanker). The data the Canadian Artic Archipelago, con- mission. However, as the sea ice melts, excludes cargo vessels completing only necting the Atlantic and Paci? c Oceans. more of the passage becomes open to part of the route (basically Canadian

Often iced up for signi? cant parts of the vessels other than ice breakers. domestic traf? c).

year, recent melting sea ice has opened According to Aker Arctic, the ? rst the possibility to use the passage as a commercial cargo vessel to complete Shipbuilding Strategy

To address growing requirements for polar vessels and aging yards which

Canadian Icebreaker Yards had been impacting by international shipbuilding cycles, the Canada’s Na- tional Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) began in 2010 and seeks to support the

Canadian marine industry and promote the domestic construction of vessels .

The strategy has three components to support programs of the Royal

Canadian Navy, Coast Guard Canada and Transport Canada, the key one for icebreaking being the program to build large vessels, including eight Arctic and offshore patrol vessels (to be built at

Irving Halifax), up to 16 multi-purpose icebreakers (to be built at Seaspan Van- couver), six Program Icebreakers (to be built Davie Quebec), two heavy polar

Source: Intelatus Global Partners icebreakers (one to be built at Seaspan

Vancouver and one at Davie Quebec)

Canadian Icebreakers and an Arctic research vessel (built by

Seaspan Vancouver).

It should be noted that, in March 2025, the Canadian government ac- cepted that Davie build the PolarMax heavy polar icebreaker at its Helsinki

Shipyard in Finland, rather than in Can- ada, although as the contract holder and the commissioning yard, we are still re? ecting the vessel as sourced from a

Canadian yard. Davie acquired Finish companies Helsinki Shipyard in 2023 and Enersense Marine and Offshore in 2025, and Gulf Copper in the USA in 2025 as it seeks to build a position as a builder of ICE Pact icebreakers.

Source: Intelatus Global Partners 56 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2025

MR #11 (50-65).indd 56 MR #11 (50-65).indd 56 11/2/2025 9:43:47 PM11/2/2025 9:43:47 PM