Team Finland Maritime Industry Delegation to the U.S. Southern States

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland is organizing a Maritime Business Delegation to Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana on 30 November-4 December 2026. The visit program includes visits to shipyards as well as visiting the New Orleans International Work Boat Show and its side program on 2-4 December 2026. The delegation will be led by Stefan Lindström, Ambassador, Consul General, Consulate General of Finland in Houston.

30.11.–4.12.2026

Southern States, USA

Register by 30 September

Preliminary programme 

The U.S. Maritime industry is booming, American shipyards face historic order books on newbuilds, refits and ship repair work. There are several prominent shipyards in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana where the delegation will be visiting. The U.S. is executing a major push to restore maritime dominance through massive federal funding. Key initiatives include a historic $65.8 billion in U.S. Navy shipbuilding and $1.2 billion in commercial port investments. These funds are tied to investments into the U.S. shipyards and expanding the merchant fleet. The fiscal year 2027 budget allocates a historic $65.8 billion toward naval shipbuilding to aggressively expand the fleet. In the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has injected over $774 million into 37 projects across coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports, and inland river ports and $489 million was directed to streamline supply chain movements and modernize operations.

In February 2026, the White House released America’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP), following the Executive Order on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance. The MAP outlines an implementation framework for federal investments in US shipbuilding, port infrastructure and workforce development. The U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry needs to hire an additional 200,000 to 250,000 workers over the next decade. U.S. Maritime Action Plan creates business opportunities in shipbuilding, port infrastructure and workforce development for allied and partner countries like Finland. The Maritime Action Plan includes four “pillars”, read more here.

 

Program

The business delegation program will start and end in New Orleans, Louisiana. On November 30 and December 1, the delegation will visit select shipyards in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The delegation will meet with the management and decision makers, technical buyers, and design departments of the shipyards. The goal of the meetings will be to learn about Maritime Action Plan and its implementation, current and upcoming projects, domestic (U.S.) content requirements, national grants, and programs, as well as present Finnish companies’ products, services and solutions to the technical teams of the shipyards.

On December 2-4, the delegation will attend the New Orleans International WorkBoat Show, which is the largest and premier annual event for the U.S. commercial marine industry visited by international industries doing business in the U.S. For over 40 years, WorkBoat has been the launching point for next-gen technology, breakthrough solutions, and critical connections that shape the future of the commercial marine industry. Team Finland will organize side programming and meetings for the delegation during the WorkBoat Show including receptions, curated discussions and meetups. These events create valuable opportunities to build relationships and engage with professionals across the industry.

 

Who should attend?

Finnish companies, research organizations and education providers focusing on shipbuilding, ship design, marine technology, arctic shipping solutions, subcontracting, workforce and crew training, offshore technology, logistics, energy solutions, electrification, AI, robotics as well as technologies supporting the listed business segments are strongly encouraged to participate. 

We welcome Finnish participants traveling from Finland that are pursuing business opportunities in the US. Finnish companies’ local representatives in the US are also welcome to join the delegation.  

Kindly note that participation is limited to 10 companies (max. 2 participants per company) on a first come - first served basis. The delegations’ maximum capacity is 20 participants.

 

Practicalities

To cover the expenses related to arranging the visit to the USA, a participation fee of EUR 2200 per person, plus EUR 20 management fee will be invoiced. Note that each company representative must individually register for the visit.

The participation fee will be invoiced after the visit, based on actual costs. The invoiced amount will not exceed the maximum fees stated above. The participation fee does not include flights, accommodation, or meals outside the official visit program.

The participation fee does not include the ticket to WorkBoat Show; hence each company representative should register for the event separately and choose which ticket type is the most suitable. Information on tickets will be soon available on this website.

Please see more information about the practicalities here.