Helsinki Shipyard (company)

Helsinki Shipyard is a Finnish shipbuilding company based at Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. The company was established in 2019 to continue the shipbuilding activities of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Finland.

This article is about a shipbuilding company. For the shipyard in Helsinki, see Hietalahti shipyard.
Helsinki Shipyard
TypeOsakeyhtiö
IndustryShipbuilding
PredecessorArctech Helsinki Shipyard
FoundedMay 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)[1]
Headquarters
Helsinki
,
Finland
Key people
Carl Gustaf Rotkirch (Managing Director)[2]
ProductsIcebreaking vessels, cruise ships
Revenue
  • €37,000 (2019)[1]
OwnerAlgador Holdings
Number of employees
387 (2019)[1]
Websitehelsinkishipyard.fi

History

Helsinki Shipyard was established in May 2019 to take over the shipbuilding activities of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard at Hietalahti shipyard in downtown Helsinki.[3][4] The company had become an economic burden for its Russian owners after the European Union and the United States imposed economic sanctions on the shipyard's Russian state-owned parent company, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), as a response to the Russian involvement in the unrest in Ukraine. In early 2018, it was reported that USC was looking for a new majority owner for Arctech Helsinki Shipyard which was making heavy cumulative losses and had been unable to attract new orders since 2016.[5] In April 2019, the Russian government finally authorized the sale of the shipyard.[6][7]

The sale of the shipbuilding operations in Finland was announced on 15 May 2019. In preparation of the transaction, a new shipbuilding company Helsinki Shipyard would be established to take over the assets and operations of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard at Hietalahti Shipyard. It would then be sold to Algador Holdings, a private Russian company owned by Rishat Bagautdinov ja Vladimir Kasyanenko while Arctech would remain as a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation and continue shipbuilding operations in Russia as a shareholder of the Saint Petersburg-based Nevsky Shipyard. Victor Olerskiy, the former deputy Russian transport minister and the former head of Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transportation, was appointed as the chairman of the board of the new company.[3][4] The managing director of Helsinki Shipyard, Carl Gustaf Rotkirch, has previously held manager positions in other Finnish shipbuilding companies.[2][8]

Orders

Shortly after the change of ownership, the new owners hinted that the first shipbuilding order for the new company would be announced within a month from its founding.[8] In late May 2019, Hufvudstadsbladet reported that the shipyard had signed a letter of intent for the construction of two 150-to-160-passenger expedition cruise ships to an undisclosed buyer.[9] On 27 June, the shipyard confirmed an order for two 113-metre (371 ft) expedition cruise ships with capacity of 157 passengers under the name "Project Vega". While Kommersant initially reported that the ships would be built for Vodohod, a Russian shipping company owned by the same people who acquired the Helsinki shipyard,[10] in 2020 it was revealed that the vessels would be operated by the revived British cruise line Swan Hellenic.[11] Steel block production began at Western Baltija Shipbuilding in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on 27 April 2020 and hull assembly of the first vessel, SH Minerva, began with keel laying in Helsinki on 24 September 2020.[12] The Polar Class 5 vessels will be delivered in 2021 and 2022.[13]

On 20 October 2020, Finnish media reported that Helsinki Shipyard was about to sign a shipbuilding contract for a third expedition cruise ship for Swan Hellenic.[14][15] On the following day, the shipyard confirmed a 150 million euro order for a 12,000 GT Polar Class 6 luxury cruise ship with a capacity of 196 passengers in 96 cabins. The construction of the ship will begin in summer 2021 and it will be delivered in the end of 2022.[16]

List of ships built or on order
See also: List of ships built at Hietalahti shipyard
Ship nameYearTypeYard numberIMO numberStatusNotesImageRef
SH Minerva 2021 (planned) Cruise ship 516 9895240 Under construction [13][12]
2022 (planned) Cruise ship 517 9895252 Under construction [17]
2022 (planned) Cruise ship 518 On order [16]

References
  1. "Helsinki Shipyard Oy". Kauppalehti. Alma Talent. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. "Helsingin telakan kauppa sinetöity –  uusi venäläisomistaja uskoo pakoteasian ratkenneen". Taloussanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma Media. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  3. "Helsinki shipyard acquisition will be finalized in May" (PDF). Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  4. "Helsingin telakan myynnistä sopu, venäläisliikemiehet puikkoihin – välttyykö telakka jatkossa sanktioilta?". Kauppalehti. Alma Media. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  5. "Ostohuhujen keskellä olevalla Helsingin telakalla valtavat tappiot - TE: "Miksi Kermas haluaisi ostaa telakan?"". Kauppalehti. Alma Talent. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  6. "Arctech Shipyardin uusi toimitusjohtaja: Helsingin telakan myynti toteutuu kevääseen mennessä". YLE. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. "Правительство разрешило продажу Arctech" (in Russian). Kommersant. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. "Helsingin telakan kauppa on sinetöity – toimitusjohtajaksi suomalainen". Navigator Magazine. Osakeyhtiö Laivastolehti. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  9. "Helsinki Shipyard signs LOI for two expedition cruise ships – report". CruiseBusiness.com Magazine. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  10. ""Водоходъ" взял курс на полюс" (in Russian). Kommersant. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  11. "Helsingin telakan risteilyalusten taustalta paljastui yllättävä omistaja" (in Finnish). Navigator Magazine. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  12. "First Keel Laying Ceremony at Helsinki Shipyard". Helsinki Shipyard. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  13. "The production of the luxury expedition cruise vessels started today". Helsinki Shipyard. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  14. "Helsingin telakan uusi tilaus tuo töitä tuhannelle: Eksoottinen risteilykonsepti kiinnostaa korona-aikanakin – "Äärettömän iloinen asia"". Kauppalehti (in Finnish). Alma Media. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  15. "Miljoonia euroja ja tuhat uutta työpaikkaa – Helsingin telakka saamassa uuden risteilijätilauksen, toimitusjohtajan mukaan asia varmistuu lähipäivinä" (in Finnish). YLE. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  16. "Swan Hellenic orders new 5-star expedition cruise ship from Helsinki Shipyard". Helsinki Shipyard. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  17. "Helsingin vaikeuksissa olleelle telakalle tilaus – toimittaa kaksi jokiristeilyalusta Venäjälle" (in Finnish). YLE. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
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