Helsinki Shipyard is suddenly busy with icebreakers and defense vessels, but it is keeping the door open to expedition cruise ships. The expertise behind its icebreaker business is also what makes it attractive to expedition operators.
The yard was recently selected to build Finland’s newest icebreaker, the Aino, scheduled for delivery in 2029.
Hull assembly of the Polar Max, a large heavy icebreaker built under a Finland-Canada production model, began at the yard in May 2026. In addition, two Arctic Security Cutters are being built for the U.S. Coast Guard under a $3.5 billion Davie Defense contract, with the first due in 2028.
Operators may wonder where passenger vessels fit into all of this. According to Jussi Lehtinen, vice president of sales and projects, they never went away.
“Cruise ships and specialized passenger vessels still remain a core part of our strategy and competence base,” Lehtinen said. “While our current orderbook is led by major icebreaker programs, we most definitely continue to actively pursue all opportunities in the cruise and passenger vessel market.”
The yard’s last three cruise deliveries were the Swan Hellenic expedition ships the Minerva, the Vega and the Diana, completed between 2021 and 2023.
The covered 280-meter graving dock is the same facility being used to assemble the Polar Max, and it can build cruise ships of up to 70,000 tons. The surrounding Finnish maritime cluster adds expertise in Arctic-rated systems, sustainable propulsion and environmentally sensitive design.
“Our particular strengths are in technically demanding, high-value vessels where the operating environment, performance, sustainability and most of all, the passenger experience are all priorities,” Lehtinen said.
Davie’s 2023 acquisition of the yard, under the Inocea Group, has significantly broadened what it can take on. A 200 million euro investment program is underway across the Helsinki and Pori facilities. It includes an intermediate gate in the drydock that lets the yard run more projects at the same time.
The yard built one of the world’s first LNG-powered icebreakers, the Polaris, in 2016.
“For cruise lines, this means that Helsinki Shipyard can combine its established passenger-vessel and Arctic design expertise with technologies that support increasingly ambitious environmental and operational requirements,” Lehtinen said.
Excerpted from the Fall 2026 Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine.
