Today, the U.S. federal government announced a plan to private sector investments to strengthen the supply chain shipbuilding and production of port equipment involving the shipbuilding group South Korean HD Hyundai, the American and Canadian companies of Shipbuilding Bollinger Shipyards and Davie Shipbuilding and the Finnish port equipment manufacturer Konecranes. In a note, the White House explained that, following the announcement of the days by the leaders of the USA, Canada and Finland to create to the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact), an agreement trilateral to collaborate in the production of icebreakers together with allies and partners, and given that the shipbuilding is capital intensive, the governments of the three nations have decided to exploit their respective shipyards for build polar icebreakers for their needs, extending a invitation to allies and partners to buy them. The agreement provides that in the The United States, Canada and Finland will define a Memorandum of Understanding that will specify the implementation of the agreement in each country.

On the occasion of today's announcement by the US Government, the Konecranes has announced that it is developing a network of US partners, including suppliers and subcontractors, to build in the coming years port cranes in the United States, including ship-to-shore quay. The European company, which has been present for decades in the USA where it has three factories for the production of crane, about 2,200 employees and more than 60 national subsidiaries, has specified that it expects to grow its network in several American states, including Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Konecranes' unstated goal is evidently to replace China's Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. (ZPMC) as a supplier of STS cranes to US ports after in the USA, security risks were highlighted that would derive from the installation in port ports of the cranes produced by the Shanghai company ( of 19 January, 21 and 26 February and 11 March 2024).