STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
s in Finland, in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
,
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
and
Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of
STX Europe
STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.
With headquarters in Oslo, Norway, STX Europe operated 15 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway, Romania and Vietnam. T ...
, a group of international shipbuilding companies owned by the South Korean
STX Corporation
STX Corporation (Hangul: 에스티엑스) is a publicly held South Korean holding company engaged in the provision of trading services. Headquartered in Gyeongsangnamdo, South Korea, the company operates its business through two divisions: trad ...
.
Half of
Helsinki yard was sold to Russian
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
in 2010. In September 2013, STX Finland announced that the
Rauma shipyard Rauma shipyard ( fi, Rauman telakka) is a shipyard in Rauma, Finland. It was previously operated by STX Finland which is owned by the South Korean STX Corporation. Rauma shipyard is specialized in large ferries, small cruise ships, multipurpose iceb ...
would be closed in June 2014. In August 2014, the
Turku shipyard was sold to
Meyer Werft
Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...
the state-owned Finnish Industry Investment and renamed
Meyer Turku Oy.
History
STX Finland Oy was a descendant of different shipyard companies.
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...
operated the shipyards of Helsinki and Turku since the 1930s.
Wärtsilä Marine
Wärtsilä Marine ( fi, Wärtsilä Meriteollisuus; sv, Wärtsilä Marinindustri) was a Finnish shipbuilding company.
The company was created in 1987 in order to improve shipbuilding productivity by combining the Wärtsilä and Valmet yards unde ...
went bankrupt in 1989 after merging with
Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp (paper), pulp, paper and energy industry, energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial oper ...
shipyards. Masa-Yards was established by
Martin Saarikangas
Martin Saarikangas (born 24 January 1937) is a Finnish shipbuilder and vuorineuvos, best known as the co-founder of Masa-Yards (now Meyer Turku), after the bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine. From 2003 to 2007 he was a member of the Parliament of Fin ...
with financing from the shipping companies to finish the ships under construction, eventually taking over the operations of Wärtsilä's former shipyards. In the mid-90s
Kvaerner purchased Masa-Yards and Kvaerner Masa-Yards was born. In 1991 the shipbuilding businesses of
Hollming Oy of Rauma and
Rauma-Repola
Metso Oyj was a Finnish industrial machinery company focusing on providing technology and services for mining, aggregates, and oil and gas, recycling, pulp and paper and other process industries.
On 30 June 2020, Metso's partial demerger and ...
of Rauma were merged to form Finnyards.
[Rauman seudun teollistuminen]
This company was purchased by Kvaerner and became Aker Finnyards. In January 2005 Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Aker Finnyards merged to form the "new" Aker Finnyards Oy. The name of the company was changed to Aker Yards Oy on 7 June 2006, and to STX Finland Cruise Oy on 23 November 2008. Since September 2009 the company has been named STX Finland Oy.
STX Finland and its predecessors built many luxurious
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s, including the very first modern purpose-built cruise ship, the ''
Song of Norway
''Song of Norway'' is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran. A very loose film adaptation with major changes to both the book a ...
''. More recent cruise ships built by the company included the two ''Oasis''-class vessels, ''
Oasis of the Seas
''Oasis of the Seas'' is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the first of her class, whose ships are the largest passenger ships in the world. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and deliver ...
'' (2009) and ''
Allure of the Seas
''Allure of the Seas'' is an owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. , the ''Oasis'' class ships were the largest passenger vessels ever in service, and ''Allure'' is longer than her sister ship '' Oasis of the Seas'', though both ...
'' (2010) which held the record for largest cruise ships in the world until 2015 when ''
Harmony of the Seas
''Harmony of the Seas'' is an built by STX France at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, for Royal Caribbean International. With a gross tonnage of 226,963 GT, she is the third largest passenger ship in the ...
'' was launched at STX Europe
Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...
shipyard in France.
2012–2013 funding crisis
At end of 2012 STX negotiated with
RCCL about an order of a large cruise ship. In order to secure the financial basis of the project, STX sent a request for loan of 50 million euros to the Finnish government and a copy of the request to media.
The Finnish government, then led by
Katainen Cabinet
The Katainen Cabinet (—June 24, 2014) was the 72nd cabinet of Finland, formed as a result of the 2011 post-parliamentary election negotiations between the Finnish parliamentary parties. Led by Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen of the National Coaliti ...
, was put into a difficult situation. Employment at Turku yard was a sensitive topic for both ruling parties the
National Coalition
The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces ( ar, الائتلاف الوطني لقوى الثورة والمعارضة السورية), commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) ( ar, الائتلاف الو ...
and the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
. While the sum was relatively small, financial status of STX was poor and according to an analysis the actually needed sum would be larger. It looked obvious that STX tried to press the Finnish government to first give a smaller sum which it would later use as a leverage for subsequent demands. The government was in a politically difficult situation, as the public, opposition parties and also own party members wanted to lend the money in order to secure the valuable order. The other option would have been becoming joint owner but the government did not want to have a financially unstable business partner. Instead, the government took another strategy – trying to find a new owner for Turku shipyard in secret from the Koreans and buying Helsinki-based naval engineering company
Aker Arctic
Aker Arctic Technology Oy (often shortened to Aker Arctic) is a Finnish engineering company that operates an ice model test basin in Helsinki. In addition to ship model testing, the company offers various design, engineering and consulting serv ...
. The man behind the plot was Minister of Economic Affairs,
Jan Vapaavuori
Jan Pellervo Vapaavuori (born 3 April 1965) is a Finnish politician, the former Minister of Economic Affairs, and the former mayor of Helsinki. Vapaavuori was Minister of Housing and Minister of Nordic Cooperation in Matti Vanhanen's second cabi ...
.
Despite of the high pressure, in December 2012 the government refused providing the loan, with the formal excuse that EU does not allow giving subsidies to unprofitable companies. Turku shipyard lost the order which went to
French Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...
located
Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...
where the government was more generous. The decision of the Finnish government was received with consternation and vast criticism from every direction; however, the main
opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...
group
Centre Party was moderate at judging the decision-making politicians, as the party leaders were aware of the poor condition of STX.
Salvage of projects under construction
STX Turku yard had two cruise ships under construction for the German
TUI Cruises
TUI Cruises is a cruise line based in Germany. It was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between the German tourism company TUI AG and the American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company. Th ...
. The shipowner as well as other financiers of the projects had observed the financial situation of the shipbuilder and became distrustful on STX after the Finnish government's refusal of financing the new project. This led to opening of the financial basis of the TUI orders. The future of Finnish shipbuilding looked bad; a yard without order backlog would be worthless. Therefore, the ongoing projects had to be urgently secured. While the Finnish subsidiary was in crisis, the Korean owner remained passive. Negotiations with STX were challenging because it was difficult to find the right persons who have got the mandate to make decisions in the company, and the creditors,
Korean Development Bank as the biggest one, had its word in the financial decisions of the heavily indebted company. The Finnish government got crucially important support from RCCL, main owner of TUI Cruises. RCCL made concessions to secure the financial basis. Speculatively, RCCL wanted to save the yard because it did not want to lose an important part of the global cruise ship building capacity. Moreover, STX sold the Perno shipyard area for €23.5 million and the state gave innovation support to STX. Financing of the TUI vessels was secured with these actions.
Rauma shipyard closure
The Finnish government and STX made a restructuring plan together with a consulting company in June 2013. According to the report, there would not be sufficient orders for both Turku and Rauma yards, with the recommendation that the Rauma yard should be closed down. At first STX was reluctant to close the Rauma yard, however the management was finally convinced about the need to cut down capacity; STX Europe was in cash crisis and was forced to liquidate some of its property. In September 2013 STX announced the closure of the Rauma yard and the sale of the area to the town of Rauma. While this led to an outcry, it fit perfectly with the plans of the government: the shipbuilding facilities were saved for a new start.
Later, a new shipbuilding company
Rauma Marine Constructions
Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) is a Finnish shipbuilding company based in Rauma, Finland. The company's main products are car ferries, icebreakers and naval vessels.
History
Rauma Marine Constructions was established by private investors wi ...
was established on the western coast.
Selling of Helsinki shipyard and Aker Arctic
The Helsinki shipyard was operated by
Arctech which was jointly owned by STX Finland and Russian
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
. The Finnish politicians urged Russian owners to buy the Korean half of Arctech. USC became a sole owner in December 2014.
The next step was to save
Aker Arctic
Aker Arctic Technology Oy (often shortened to Aker Arctic) is a Finnish engineering company that operates an ice model test basin in Helsinki. In addition to ship model testing, the company offers various design, engineering and consulting serv ...
, a Helsinki-based naval engineering company specialised on
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 smaller ...
s and arctic offshore projects. Again, the STX management as well as representatives of Korean Development Bank, were not willing to discuss. The Finnish government had to organise meeting by help of diplomacy, telling that it is not appropriate to reject a meeting with a minister. The company management did not want to make decisions but later the increasingly weakening situation forced STX to sell more of its property. Finally, STX sold Aker Arctic to
Finnish Industry Investment on 17 December 2013.
Selling of Turku yard
The final step was finding a new operator for the Turku shipyard. The secret operation was under name ''Project Town Hall'' on classified papers. The Finnish government sought for a credible buyer for the yard and the German
Meyer Werft
Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...
was selected a strong candidate. The family company had significant cruise ship operators as customers but the yard is located in
Papenburg
Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners.
Geog ...
, far inland next to a river that sets limits to the maximum size of the ships. Discussion with Meyer Werft was opened by STX Finland board member Lauri Ratia who travelled to Papenburg under assignment of the Finnish government and in secret from his employer. After hearing a cautiously positive answer Ratia contacted minister Vapaavuori who called the head of the family company Bernard Meyer. A Finnish delegation including Vapaavuori flew to Germany in November 2013 for a secret mission to sell a yard which the state did not own and neither had mandate to sell. Everything was done in secrecy because neither the Finnish government, nor Meyer Werft wanted that the Koreans knew about the plan because otherwise the price of the yard would have gone up. During meeting in Papenburg it came out that Meyer Werft was seriously interested in buying Turku shipyard and investing on it. During the visit the delegation noticed that the company puts a lot of effort on productivity and commits on their business; for the delegation, there was no doubt that Meyer Werft would be an ideal operator for Turku yard.
STX remained silent for the following months. The Finnish government started pushing the Korean owner; this step was under code name ''Project Santa Cruz''. Vapaavuori travelled to Korea in May 2014 telling that the government has found "an unnamed industrial partner" which is interested in Turku shipyard. The STX representatives possibly thought that it was a local consortium. The founder of STX
Kang Duk-soo was removed from office due to charge of fraud and this probably affected on STX to become more willing to sell the shipyard. Meyer Werft representatives visited at Turku shipyard in the same month and their calculations showed that the yard could be operated profitably. The company made a non-committing quotation for the yard, but buying was subject to having new orders in addition to the ones under construction. The government and Meyer Werft contacted RCCL and TUI Cruises, and after long negotiations, Turku shipyard received orders for two cruise ships from TUI Cruises. Meyer Werft and Finnish state bought Turku shipyard from STX in August 2014 for a nominal price, which, however, included liabilities of about €20 million.
Delivered craft
Turku
* ''
Oasis of the Seas
''Oasis of the Seas'' is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the first of her class, whose ships are the largest passenger ships in the world. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and deliver ...
'' for
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flori ...
* ''
Allure of the Seas
''Allure of the Seas'' is an owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. , the ''Oasis'' class ships were the largest passenger vessels ever in service, and ''Allure'' is longer than her sister ship '' Oasis of the Seas'', though both ...
'' for
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flori ...
* ''
Viking Grace
MS ''Viking Grace'' is a cruiseferry constructed at STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland for the Finland-based ferry company Viking Line. The ship was delivered to her owners on 10 January 2013, and entered service on 13 January 2013. She is the ...
'' for
Viking Line
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from ...
* ''
Meri'' for
Gaiamare
* ''
Mein Schiff 3'' for
TUI Cruises
TUI Cruises is a cruise line based in Germany. It was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between the German tourism company TUI AG and the American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company. Th ...
Rauma
* ''
S. A. Agulhas II
''S. A. Agulhas II'' is a South African icebreaking polar supply and research ship owned by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). She was built in 2012 by STX Finland Rauma shipyard in Rauma, Finland, to replace the ageing '' S. A. Agu ...
'' for
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n
Department of Environmental Affairs
The Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries is one of the departments of the South African government. It is responsible for protecting, conserving and improving the South African environment and natural resources. It was created in 2 ...
* ''
Mirabilis'' for
Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
* ''
Turva
''Turva'' is a Finnish offshore patrol vessel. Built in 2014 by STX Finland Rauma shipyard for the Finnish Border Guard, she is the largest vessel of the fleet as well as the first patrol vessel in Finland powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). ...
'' for
Finnish Border Guard
The Finnish Border Guard (; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. It is a military organisation, subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior in administrative issues and to the President of Finland in issue ...
* ''
Nils Dacke
Nils Dacke (died 1543) was a Swedish yeoman who was the leader of a mid-16th century peasant revolt in the historic province of Småland in southern Sweden. The resulting Dacke War ( sv, Dackefejden) was fought against King Gustav I of Sweden ...
'' for
TT-Line
TT-Line GmbH is a shipping company based in Lübeck, Germany, which has been providing ferry service between Travemünde in Schleswig-Holstein and Trelleborg in southern Sweden since 1962. Since 1992, it has also operated a service from Rostock ...
(conversion)
Helsinki
* ''
Armorique'' for
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, ...
See also
*
Crichton-Vulcan
Crichton-Vulcan is an abandoned shipyard in Turku, Finland, that once formed the cornerstone of the Finnish shipbuilding industry. The shipyard is best known for the World War II coastal defence ships and submarines it produced.
Shipbuild ...
*
Finnish Maritime Cluster
References
External links
STX Finland website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stx Finland Cruise Oy
Shipbuilding companies of Finland
Ships built in Turku
Manufacturing companies established in 1989
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2014
Finnish companies established in 1989
2014 disestablishments in Finland
Defunct companies of Finland