The 8500gt ropax ferry Armorique for Brittany Ferries was due for delivery in January from the Helsinki shipyard.
the first nine months of 2008 revenues grew by nearly 30%, operating profit by almost 25% and orders received by nearly 40% compared to the same period of 2007. ABB Marine has been busy
manufacturing Azipod units at its new Azipod assembly plant, located next to the new Port of Vuosaari in Helsinki. Last summer, the 200th Azipod unit order was placed. At the end of September last year, 167 Azipod units had been installed on 74 ships, with some half having a power rating exceeding 14MW. Te company recently delivered its most powerful units to date, two 20.5MW units for Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Solstice, delivered last autumn in Germany (see pp36-38). Te technology used differs from previous cruiseships in that the vessel uses Voltage Source Inverter - (VSI) type propulsion frequency converters, improving efficiency.
STX steps in Internationalisation of a different sort also hit the Finnish maritime sector in 2008, when Aker Yards ASA became part of South Korean yard group STX in August. STX controls 92.46% in the old Aker business. In November, Aker Yards became STX Europe. Te head office of the major shipbuilding group remains in Oslo. Te new management model of the
Cruise & Ferries business area was implemented from the beginning of September, when Martin Landtman, now back in the industry, became president of the entire Finnish operations, Aker Yards Oy, while Jacques Hardelay continues as president for Aker Yards France SA. Olli Jantunen has been appointed sales manager in Finland. Te yards in Finland and France continue to coordinate their cruiseship and ferry businesses, as before, although the French state acquired, in November, a 33.34% shareholding in STX France Cruise SA (STX France) and its shipyards in Saint-Nazaire and Lorient. Te orderbook of the Cruise & Ferries business area of STX Europe is valued at
The Naval Architect February 2009
around €5.3 billion. It includes, as of late December, seven cruiseships, of which two for Royal Caribbean, are being built in Finland, and four vessels for MSC Cruises and one for Norwegian Cruise Line that are being built in France. Te second disputed F3 vessel for NCL was cancelled in December. Seven ferries are on order. In Finland a
cruise ferry is being built for Tallink, as are two car-passenger ferries for P&O Ferries, and a passenger ferry for Brittany Ferries. Te French contribution amounts to three coastal LNG ferries for Tide Sjo. The Cruise & Ferries business in
Finland employs some 3800 people, including those from STX Finland Cabins Oy, the cabin module manufacturer. Te yard in Turku has been focusing on building the two 225,000gt cruiseships for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Oasis of the Seas, which floated out from the drydock in November and is due delivery in November 2009, and the sistership Allure of the Seas in autumn 2010. Last spring, the yard delivered the
smaller (but still the world’s biggest cruiseship to date), 160,000gt Independence of the Seas to the same owner. Te vessel is the third vessel in the Freedom-class.
Last year, the Finnish yards also delivered
the two ropax ferries SuperSpeed 1 and SuperSpeed 2 for Color Line from the Rauma yard. Te fast 34,000gt ropax ferry Viking XPRS for Viking Line and the 48,300gt cruise ferry Baltic Princess for Tallink were delivered from the Helsinki yard. Te 8500gt ropax ferry Armorique for Brittany Ferries is due for delivery in January, from Helsinki. Te ferry orderbook includes a 48,000gt
cruise ferry, project, Cruise Ferry 5, Baltic Queen, for Tallink, due in April 2009 from Rauma. In August, a contract, worth €360m, was signed with P&O Ferries for building two large car-passenger ferries at the Rauma yard. Te vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2010 and 2011. At 49,000gt, the vessels will be the biggest operating in the English Channel. Te yards in Helsinki and Rauma have, in addition, some conversion orders. In these turbulent times, however, a note
of caution is called for. Te letter of intent for the fourth vessel in the Independence series has not yet been confirmed, while the STX Europe Turku yard announced plans to lay off 1060 workers in January. Last autumn RCCL chief executive
Richard Fain told analysts no immediate new orders were envisaged under prevailing economic circumstances. NA
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