9.12.2025
This winter Helsinki Shipyard, will be one of the main partners of the Lux Helsinki light art festival. Helsinki Shipyard, owned by Canada-based Davie Shipbuilding, will celebrate the Polar Max icebreaker project currently under construction for the Canadian Coast Guard, by transforming the shipyard into a stage for living art and light. The 2026 festival’s largest artwork, “Rooms of Light”, will highlight the unique history and future of the shipyard located in Hietaniemi, right at the heart of Finland’s capital city.
The artwork, created by artist Melek Mazici, honors Helsinki’s Shipyard’s iconic landmarks – the Hietalahti cranes – by turning the crane cabins into giant lanterns and beacons. Their light symbolizes hope for the future. The shipyard lights will shine again as the yard comes to life.
“My work pays tribute to the shipyard’s history and the people who have worked there, lighting up the yard for over 160 years – on dark, windy mornings and during cold, short winter days,” says Mazici.
Polar Max is the first shipbuilding project at Helsinki Shipyard under Davie’s ownership. It is a joint effort between Finnish and Canadian shipbuilding experts under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. Steel block construction began in the summer at Helsinki Shipyard and at Davie’s SATA Shipbuilding in the autumn. The hull will be completed at Helsinki Shipyard before the vessel is transferred to Davie’s facility in Quebec, Canada where construction on the superstructure of the ship is about to commence. Designed by Helsinki Shipyard, Polar Max will be the most advanced and capable icebreaker ever delivered to a Western government. It will showcase Helsinki Shipyard as a world leading arctic shipbuilder. The vessel is scheduled for delivery to the Canadian government in 2030.
“Polar Max is a major milestone for Finland. Finnish icebreaker expertise is highly valued worldwide. It’s fantastic to celebrate this next chapter in the shipyard’s history through art and to open the yard to the public in a new way. Our collaboration with Lux Helsinki brings light and life to Hietalahti and highlights the shipyard’s unique role in developing Arctic marine technology,” says Kim Salmi, CEO of Helsinki Shipyard.
“Lux Helsinki symbolises the renaissance of Helsinki Shipyard under Davie’s ownership. And the Polar Max project returns Helsinki Shipyard to the centre of Arctic innovation and pride,” said Paul Barrett, Group Chief Communications Officer. ”It is also a great honour to collaborate with Melek Mazici, whose work will transform our iconic cranes into symbols of this new era for this historic shipbuilder.”
Lux Helsinki will take place across the city from January 6–11, 2026. For more details on the artworks, visit the event website: https://luxhelsinki.fi/
Further information:
Antti Leino
Director of Public Affairs, Group Davie
+358 40 705 8769
Antti.leino@davie.group