CANADA's Ministry of Public Services and Procurement early this month awarded two construction contracts worth a total of CAD6.4 billion (US$4.5 billion) for two polar icebreakers that are being built for the Canadian Coast Guard.

On March 7 came the announcement of a CAD3.15 billion contract to Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards for one of the two icebreakers, reports New York's MarineLog.

The next day came the official announcement of a CAD3.25 billion award to Chantier Davie Canada Inc for the other.

Chantier Davie will deliver the ship from its Levis, Quebec, shipyard. To accelerate its production, Davie will also leverage its Canadian-owned shipyard in Finland, Helsinki Shipyard, where construction will start.

"With Finland's unique expertise and track record building polar icebreakers, this will deliver Canadian ships faster and cheaper, and get them on the ice quicker," said the Public Services and Procurement Canada announcement.

The Seaspan polar icebreaker will be built entirely in Canada at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards, located in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

With the contract now in place, Seaspan is ready to cut steel on this ship and begin full-rate construction on Canada's newest vessel under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). Construction of this ship will support the work of a team of more than 1,000 local shipbuilders and a broad Canadian supply chain of over 800 Canadian companies.

The new polar icebreaker will be the seventh vessel designed and built by Seaspan under the NSS. It will also be the fifth Polar Class vessel to be built for the CCG, and one of up to twenty-one icebreaking vessels overall that Seaspan is constructing.

Functional design of the polar icebreaker was completed in 2024 by Seaspan, prior to the start of construction. For this ship, Seaspan worked extensively to build out the largest marine design and engineering team in Canada, which includes Seaspan employees and Canadian partners, while simultaneously working alongside established Finnish companies that have extensive experience in designing Arctic-going vessels.

Davie says that it will deliver its Polar Max design icebreaker to Canada by 2030. Created by the Helsinki Shipyard, the Polar Max design is based on Aker Arctic's original Aker ARC 148 hull form.