Image credit: Canadian Coast Guard.
The US is teaming up with Canada and Finland to build better icebreakers (ICE stands for Icebreaker Collaboration Effort). They want to:
- Share ideas and train workers in all three countries.
- Build icebreakers for themselves and also sell them to other countries for a good price (by building more at once).
There’s a catch though:
- US shipyards haven’t built these special icebreakers in a long time and need to train their workers.
- The US icebreaker program is already behind schedule and hasn’t said when it’ll be finished.
But the good news is:
- Working together and training new workers could help the US shipbuilding industry.
- In the end, all three countries will have the icebreakers they need.
Here’s some background info:
- The US and Canada’s current icebreaker programs are way over budget and behind schedule.
- Finland is a pro at building icebreakers, so they’re joining the team to help out.