Almost half the blocks for the first U.S. Coast Guard Arctic Security Cutter under construction at Rauma Marine Constructions in Finland are already launched, and production of the second hull is about to begin, according to RMC CEO Mika Nieminen.

"We have almost half of the blocks for the first ship launched. The start of production for the second ship is approaching," Nieminen told Finnish newspaper Satakunnan Kansa.

The pace at the Rauma shipyard reflects months of preparation carried out before the final contract was signed this summer. U.S. trade regulations prevented RMC from formally beginning construction before the agreement was completed, Nieminen said, but the yard had already produced prototype production units in the interim. That groundwork allowed Rauma to move straight into series production once the contract took effect.

The Coast Guard awarded the roughly $1.1 billion contract for the two cutters in December 2025 and formally finalized it in July. Both vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2028.

The two Finnish-built hulls form part of a six-vessel tranche led by Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards. RMC is building two ships at Rauma; Bollinger is constructing four in the United States. All six are based on the Multi-Purpose Icebreaker design developed by Canada's Seaspan Shipyards together with Finnish icebreaker specialist Aker Arctic.

That mature design underpins the program's accelerated schedule. Seaspan has said its MPI design was production-ready when the Coast Guard selected the consortium, allowing construction to start immediately rather than waiting years for a new design to mature — a common source of delay in naval and coast guard newbuild programs.

For the shipbuilding side of the supply chain, the arrangement splits work along a clear industrial logic. Finland supplies proven icebreaker engineering and serial production capacity; U.S. yards receive technology and production know-how transfer. The RMC vessels sit inside a broader Coast Guard plan to acquire 11 Arctic Security Cutters in total. Four of the 11 are being built in Finland, with the remainder planned for U.S. construction.

The Rauma contract is not the only Finnish contribution to the polar fleet. Two additional ASCs are under construction at Helsinki Shipyard under Davie Defense's five-ship contract with the Coast Guard. Sata Shipbuilding in Pori cut first steel for the lead vessel in that series in June, with delivery of the first ship also targeted for 2028.

The parallel Finnish programs form the practical core of the U.S.-Finland icebreaker cooperation agreement, which aims to accelerate delivery of new polar vessels while expanding U.S. shipbuilding capacity. For the Coast Guard, the stakes are straightforward: the first ASCs are expected to enter service from 2028, with the first two vessels homeported in Alaska.

For shipowners, yards and equipment suppliers watching the polar segment, the Rauma milestone signals that the largest Western icebuilding program in decades is moving from contract stage to steel on the ways. With block production for hull one nearly half complete and the second hull approaching first steel, the 2028 delivery window for the first two cutters now rests on Rauma's ability to sustain the production tempo it built through pre-contract prototyping.