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Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
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 Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
, at the mouth of the Loire river and the deep waters of the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
, which make the sailing of large ships in and out of the shipyards easy. The shipyard was owned by
Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...
from 1976 onwards, became Alstom-Atlantique, and was later part of
Aker Yards Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...
when Aker Group acquired the Alstom Marine business in 2006. In 2008, the South Korean company STX Corporation acquired Aker Yards, and the shipyard became part of STX Europe (formed by the renaming of Aker Yards). After the bankruptcy of STX Corporation, the shipyard was acquired by the French government and reverted to its original name of Chantiers de l'Atlantique.


History

The current Chantiers de l'Atlantique yard evolved from the Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët, Saint-Nazaire, France, famous for building the transatlantic liners: , , and . It was renamed to its current name in 1955 by the merger of Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire and Ateliers et Chantiers de Penhoët. In 1961, it built the transatlantic
ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...
, the world's longest passenger vessel only overall, but not at the waterline. After the construction of the last Compagnie Générale Transatlantique liner and the closure of the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, the yard began building large tankers, including , , and . A new dry dock was built for this purpose and allowed the construction of tankers exceeding one million tonnes, but it remained mainly unused except for the construction in 1975–1976 of the sister ships and ''Nestor'' and then again idle until construction of Cunard's liner . Between 1985 and 1998, the shipyard built several cruise ships for
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the Lis ...
(RCCL). In 1987 the first of these ships, , was delivered, and was the first mega cruise ship in the world. Subsequent deliveries to RCCL included , , , '' Legend of the Seas, , , and . In 2003, the shipyard also delivered to Crystal Cruises and ''Queen Mary 2'' to Cunard. During the construction of RMS ''Queen Mary 2'', a gangway to the dry-docked ship collapsed, killing sixteen people. On 4 January 2006
Aker Yards Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...
purchased the Marine Division of
Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...
, which included the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard. In March 2007
Aker ASA Aker ASA is a Norway, Norwegian industrial investment company with ownership interests concentrated in oil and gas, renewable energy and green technologies, industrial software, seafood and marine biotechnology sectors. The company is listed on ...
divested its interest in Aker Yards, with South Korean STX Corporation acquiring a 39.2% stake in Aker Yards in October. By 3 November 2008 STX Corporation had acquired a controlling stake in the company, renaming it to STX Europe. The same year, the French government purchased a 33.34% stake in the shipyard. After the bankruptcy of STX Corporation in 2016, STX France was put up for sale, and the Italian state-owned shipyard
Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...
showed interest in acquiring STX France. In September 2017, after difficult negotiations and a brief nationalization of the shipyard by the French government, the involved parties reached an agreement, with Fincantieri acquiring a 50% stake in STX France, and the remainder being held by the French
Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards ...
and the French government. A month later, it was announced that the Saint-Nazaire shipyard would regain its original name, Chantiers de l'Atlantique. In 2022, a new crane entered service during the construction of , replacing the older crane from 1967.


Ships

Notable passenger liners built by at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique yard (former Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët) include:


Other ships built at the yard

* - Four sloops, designed as seaplane tenders, but built as convoy escorts. all launched in 1940. * ''Belle Abeto'' - Built in 1952 as LAENNEC 66 BELLE ABETO passenger/cargo ship. * s - Four ships launched (1976–1979) * and MV ''Nestor'' - Two
LNG carrier An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). Overview The first oceangoing liquified natural gas tanker in the world was '' Methane Pioneer'', which entered service in 1959 with a carrying capacity of ...
s built in 1975–1977 for the Dutch NSU (later
Nedlloyd Nedlloyd was a Dutch shipping company, formed in 1970 as the result of a merger of several shipping lines: *Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) *Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd (KRL) *Koninklijke Java-China-Paketvaart-Lijnen (KJCPL) *Vereen ...
) and Ocean Group (later owned by Bonny Gas Transport). The large drydock, which was later used for the ''Queen Mary 2'', was specially built for the building of supertankers in the 1970s, among which were these two ships. The drydock was never used again until the ''Queen Mary 2'' was being built. * - A part of it was launched in 2008. * Russian amphibious assault ship ''Vladivostok'' - Later purchased by Egypt. * Russian amphibious assault ship ''Sevastopol'' - Later purchased by Egypt.


Future ships on order


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chantiers De L'atlantique Shipyards of France Aker ASA Saint-Nazaire 1861 establishments in France Buildings and structures in Loire-Atlantique