# Aker yards boom time



## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

Aker yards press release - 

_Aker Yards

One plus one becoming three

Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries business area combines the long tradition 
of Finnish and French shipbuilding, benefitting from a unique design 
competence and strong industrial synergies. The integration process
was named 1 + 1 = 3.

Since January 4, 2006 when the news of joining forces of the two giants
in cruise ship building was published, the traffic between the cities of 
Saint Nazaire in France and Turku in Finland, where the two Aker Yards 
post-panama yards are situated, has been busy.

The busiest travellers have been the members of the 14 task forces 
consisting of both French and Finnish employees, which were established 
for the integration process. When shaping of Aker Yards new Cruise & 
Ferries business area they have been e.g. evaluating potential synergies 
and gathering best experiences in both countries in order to prepare 
suggestions for the executive management team s approval.

The joining of the forces of the French and Finnish companies was the 
result of Aker Yards Cruise & Ferries business area s need to increase 
its Post Panama business with new capacity. By capitalising on the 
French yard s position to construct very large ships, the plan to create 
one of the world leaders in shipbuilding came true. The new unit 
benefits from a unique design competence, combining the long tradition 
of French and Finnish cruise shipbuilding that has produced icons such 
as SS France, Queen Mary 2, the Voyager class and the Freedom class 
ships. 

In Aker Yards capacity and capabilities are utilized cross national 
borders. As to France and Finland, the team work between the yards 
started already before the integration - sections of a cruise ferry in 
the Finnish orderbook were manufactured in St Nazaire due to available 
capacity. 

Aker Yards is known for innovative design prototypes. Besides the world 
s largest delivered vessels - first Queen Mary 2 in France, then 
Freedom of the Seas in Finland - innovations like the first all-
outside-cabin cruise ships, prefabricated cabins and bathroom modules, 
Azipod propulsion and indoor promenade originate from Aker Yards. 

After signing on 7 September 2006 the biggest contract ever in Aker 
Yards` history, two new type of big cruise vessels for NCL, Aker Yards 
has built, or are building, all twelve of the largest cruise ships in 
the world.

"We think the best way to predict the future is to create it" says Yrjö 
Julin, President of Aker Yards Cruise & Ferries. "There are certainly 
many more innovations to come - especially now that we feel we have 
the best facilities for cruise vessel and ferry shipbuilding in the 
world."

"Aker Yards key objective is building trust towards our suppliers and 
partners. The new arrangement also opens opportunities for the marine 
industry networks to find new working and supplying contacts both in 
France and Finland and also elsewhere in Europe", Julin continues.

A bigger business area in a bigger group

The Aker Yards Cruise & Ferries business area now consists of five 
yards: Aker Yards, St.Nazaire and Lorient in France and Aker Yards, 
Turku, Rauma and Helsinki in Finland.

The legal names of the French and Finnish companies are Aker Yards SA 
and Aker Yards Oy respectively, but the names Aker Yards, France and 
Aker Yards, Finland as well as the locality names are used for
branding and communication purposes.

The Finnish yards are all amongst the largest yard facilities in Europe. 
The yard in Turku with total land area of 144 hectares is one of the 
biggest and most modern shipyards in Europe, building post-panama size 
cruise vessels. The newbuilding dock measuring 365 x 80 m is served by
a gantry crane of 600 tons. 

Also the yard in Saint Nazaire has over the last few years turned into 
one of the world leaders in the important market of cruise ships. With 
an area of 108 hectares the yard comprises a huge dry dock, 
885 x 65 m served by a gigantic gantry crane of 750 tons.

The yard in Helsinki is specializing in car-passenger ferries, and the
Rauma yard is the world`s leading ferry builder, and is also specialized 
in small cruise vessels, multipurpose icebreakers and naval craft.

The yard in Lorient produces hi-tech vessels of between 30 & 140 metres 
in length.

The number of personnel in Aker Yards Finnish yards amounts to some 
3,800 employees. The company`s "assembly yard" concept means employing 
directly these "own" people and lots of others in co-operation 
companies, thus boosting the whole surrounding economic region.
In France Aker Yards employs some 3,200 people.

The ca. 6.5 billion EUR order intakes of Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries 
consist of 17 newbuildings: The world`s three largest cruise vessels for 
Royal Caribbean, two new type big cruise vessels for NCL, four luxury 
cruise vessels for MSC Cruises, a cruise vessel and two fast day ferries 
for Color Line, a cruise ferry and a fast passenger ferry for Tallink, a 
ropax and a passenger ferry for Brittany Ferries and a fast 
passenger/car ferry for Viking Line. In addition, there are five 
options; with RCCL, MSC, NCL, Color Line and Viking Line.

Besides Cruise & Ferries, the international shipbuilding group Aker 
Yards ASA (www.akeryards.com) is focusing on two other business areas, 
i.e. Merchant Vessels and Offshore & Specialized vessels. Aker Yards 
comprises in all 17 yards in seven countries (Brazil, Finland, France, 
Germany, Norway, Romania and Ukraine) and has approximately 20,000 
employees. 

Aker Yards is part of the Aker Group (www.akerasa.com), a leading multi-
industry powerhouse with more than 50,000 employees and EUR 10 billion 
revenues. Aker owns 50.4 per cent of Aker Yards, and the group is also a 
significant participant in the oil & gas business as well as the 
fisheries industry._

Rushie


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## Geoff Bray (Jan 6, 2006)

*Aker*

Rushie,
That article did not even mention the Aker yard in Philadelphia here in the U.S. They are building ten 45.000 ton Product Carriers for OSG in New York, the first vessel in due out in December, I was onboard a couple of weeks ago
TBN "Overseas Houston
Regards
Geoff Bray


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## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

Cheers Geoff....business really is booming then..!

Rushie


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