Götaverken was a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roo ...

company that was located on

Hisingen Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of th ...

, Gothenburg. During the 1930s it was the world's biggest shipyard by launched gross registered tonnage. It was founded in 1841, and went bankrupt in 1989.

History

The company was founded in 1841 by Scottish businessman Alexander Keiller under the name Keillers Werkstad i Göteborg, and was aimed at industrial production. After bankruptcy in 1867, the company was reorganised into Göteborgs Mekaniska Verkstads AB. In 1906, the majority of the company's stocks were taken over by Hugo Hammar and Sven Almqvist. Because of this, the company was reorganised into Göteborgs Nya Verkstads AB and the shipyard's capacity was increased. In 1916 the shipyard was renamed to AB Götaverken. During the 1930s, the company had grown so much that Götaverken became the world's biggest shipyard by launched gross registered tonnage. In 1950 a completely new shipyard was built at

Arendal Arendal () is a municipality in Agder county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Arendal (which is also the seat of Agder county). Some of the not ...

, which is also located in Gothenburg. When the shipyard was completed in 1963, it was internationally unique because most of the building was done indoors. Their old shipyard (Cityvarvet) closed down in 1968. In 1971, the company was taken over by Salénrederierna AB. And in 1977, the state-owned shipbuilding company,

Svenska Varv AB Svenska Varv AB was a Swedish state-owned company that was founded in 1977. It was formed to liquidate the many unprofitable assets of the Swedish shipbuilding industry which experienced a major financial crisis during 1969–1985 due to competi ...

, took over Salénrederierna because of the

Swedish shipyard crisis Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. During this last period of the company's history, they searched for alternatives to the traditional production of tankers and ore transporters. The company tried to aim its production towards special vessels, such as

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to sma ...

s, ferries and freezer ships. In 1989, the state-owned icebreaker ''Oden'' was delivered from Arendal as Götaverkens last own-made ship. However, Götaverken Cityvarvet survived the crisis and would for the next few decades perform repairs, maintenance, and renovation of ships. In 2000 the shipyard was purchased by the Dutch group Damen Shipyards Group before ultimately being closed in 2015. Götaverkens head office, located at Lindholmen, was built in 1951. After the Swedish shipyard crisis and Götaverkens restructuring, the building has been unoccupied since 1991. During 2006, the building underwent an extensive renovation for approximately one hundred million

Swedish kronor The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it ...

. In the beginning of December 2006,

ESAB ESAB, ''Elektriska Svetsnings- Aktiebolaget'' ( en, Electric Welding Limited company), is an American Swedish industrial company. The ultimate parent company of ESAB is ESAB Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange listed (TickerESAB with its prin ...

moved in.

Aircraft production and projects

*GV38: License-built version of the

Rearwin Sportster The Rearwin Sportster is a 1930s American two-seat, high-winged, cabin monoplane designed and built by Rearwin Aircraft & Engines for sport/touring use. Development The Sportster began development while Rearwin was still certifying the previou ...

, 14 built 1938-1943 *GV8: proposal for a government competition which was won by the Saab 18

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotaverken History of Gothenburg Defunct manufacturing companies of Sweden Hisingen Swedish companies established in 1841 Manufacturing companies based in Gothenburg Shipbuilding companies of Sweden 1989 disestablishments in Sweden Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1989 19th century in Gothenburg 20th century in Gothenburg Manufacturing companies established in 1841 Swedish companies disestablished in 1989