The Finnish Maritime Industry
Technology drives development in ship design, building & outfitting If the Finnish maritime industry was to be summed up in a word, technology would be an appropriate choice. From its shipyards to its suppliers to its purveyors of engineering and technical services, the Finnish industry has pioneered many maritime products and concepts which have been incorporated and copied world round.
A quick glance at the country's current orderbook bears this fact out, as at least two highly technical, prestigious orders are now making their way through the country's yards: the Stena Line HSS ferries being built by Finnyards and the series of four LNG tankers being built by Kvaerner Masa- Yards' Turku New Shipyard for Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
Additionally, Kvaerner Masa- Yards' building of the diesel-electric propelled 70,400-ton cruise ships for Carnival Cruise Lines — featuring two 14-MW ABB Marine AC motors controlled by cycloconverters — is an example of this country's strong ties to and reliance upon the cruise and passenger vessel market.
Beyond this, Finnish companies are known as international contributors on many fronts: shipyard efficiencies; propulsion technology and safety at sea, to name a few. In fact, several Finnish companies have become technological partners in the attempt to make U.S. shipyards commercially competitive. New O r d e rs The Finnish maritime industry's worst kept secret is its strong ties to the cruise and passenger vessel markets. And as the demand for cruise ships, car and passenger ferries (both conventional and of the "fast-ferry" type) grows, so too does the optimism of Finnish companies. However, the country's yards, engineering firms and suppliers have proven and varied strengths — having built a strong reputation for creating high-tech specialty vessels as well.
"Passenger vessels has been and is a major business area," said Kvaerner Masa-Yards' H e n r ik S e g e r c r a n t z .
And while Kvaerner Masa-Yards has enjoyed a steady stream of orders for cruise ships, he points to the specialty ships, such as the four LNG tankers being built for Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) in t h e Turku facility, and the cableships being built (one recently delivered) in Helsinki as examples of versatility and technical capability The orderbook today stands at approximately $3.3 billion (15 Billion Fim).
On September 12, Finnyards signed a contract for the building of an ice-strengthened, 13,000-dwt bulk carrier to Etela-Suomen Laiva Oy (ESL Shipping), for delivery in the autumn of 1995.
The 443-ft. (135-m) long by 71-ft. (21.5-m) wide vessel is designed for carrying coal and other bulk cargo, and the deck will feature three huge cranes.
To enable the ship to carry paper and steel, a special air drying system for the cargo holds will be installed. The vessel will sail mainly in the Baltic and N. European areas, but will meet the rules and requirements for worldwide traffic.
Valmet Power Transmissions also recently announced a new deal, an approximately $1.2 million (5.5 million Fim) contract with Aarhus Flyedoc A/S for the supply of reduction gears for five general cargo vessels ordered from the yard by Elite- Shipping A/S, Denmark. The singlestage units (type M1VB-915+S500) are designed for an engine rating of 6,000 kW and an engine speed of 500 rpm. The gearboxes will be delivered in 1995-96.
Evac Oy, a supplier of vacuum toilet systems to the marine industry, has secured a contract to supply sanitation systems to four 18,400- dwt, 1,150-TEU containerships under construction at Poland's Gdynia New Shipyard for undisclosed Ger- man owners.
In this latest contract, Hull Numbers 8125/1-4 will each be fitted with 20 Aniara bulkhead mounted toilets, and seven Aniara deckmounted vacuum toilets, plus collecting unit comprising one pump and ejector.
Shipyard Technology As yards around the globe look to invest in proven technologies to help build ships more efficiently and more economically, a close eye should be paid to the Finnish market, known for creating innovative solutions.
Finnyards has invested approximately $45 million (200 million Fim) to boost the shipyard's productivity both in aluminum and steel production, with the creation of a new graving dock as the central element of the development program.
The 150,000-dwt vessel-capacity drydock was inaugurated on June 29, with the laying of the keel of the first of two diesel-electric RoRo/Passenger ferries for TT-Line, vessels which will operate between Germany and Sweden.
The drydock is 853 ft. (260 m) long by 279 ft. (85 m) wide, and if needed, can be lengthened 328 ft. (100 m).
In March, Finnyards started using a new hall for aluminum production, a hall which features a highly mechanized aluminum welding for series production of large aluminum structures. On the steel production side, Finnyards enlarged the facility by 1,650 sq. m.
and new automation and mechanization equipment was incorporated, including cutting and welding machinery, cranes and transporters.
The investment doubled the work output in the hall.
Neither of Kvaerner Masa-Yards' facilities in Helsinki and Turku is a stranger to incorporating the latest technology either.
Perhaps the technological accomplishments of Kvaerner Masa-Yards was best signified by the installation at the Turku New Shipyard — of the first spherical LNG tank aboard the first of four 135,000-sq.-m. LNG carriers for the ADNOC. The lower, middle and upper segments of the more than 131-ft. (40-m) diameter tank were lifted separately aboard the hull section in the newbuilding dock, after which the final joining took place.
The tanks installed are a direct result of technology investment at the Turku New Shipyard (detailed in the April, 1994 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News), which includes a new production plant, including three new workshops, for the manufacture of spherical LNG tanks.
As a commitment to carrying out the order, nearly 400 staff members were specially trained. The first task of the new production facility is completing 16 cargo tanks for the four LNG carriers for ADNOC. The order was placed in April of 1993, and the ships are scheduled for delivery in 1996 and 1997.
Further evidence of the Finnish industry's esteem in the international community is the influence it has had in bolstering shipbuilding practices in other areas of the world, particularly in the U.S.
DeltaMarin, an engineering and naval architecture firm, is a partner in Ingalls Shipbuilding's MARITECH-funded program to develop a cruise ship design for production at the Pascagoula-based yard, a project which Finnyards is also a partner in.
DeltaMarin said it is also involved with Newport News Shipbuilding on various projects, including vessel designs and streamlining yard processes.
Kvaerner Masa-Yards subsidiary Kvaerner Masa Marine Inc. was included in five successful proposals selected by the U.S.'s MARITECH program, including: a high-speed monohull focused project with Bath Iron Works; an implementation of modern manufacturing methods and information systems with Todd Pacific Shipyards; a market analysis study to look at penetrating the international market for small ships with the American Waterways Shipyard Conference (AWSC); a program to design a high-tech tanker with Modular Tanker Consortium; and a project to design a virtual shipyard with the U.S. Shipbuilding Consortium. Mock Doors Ltd. of Helsinki designs, manufactures and maintains large doors for industrial buildings with big openings, and to date has concentrated on the Northern European market.
The company offers a host of products, including fabric hoisting doors for shipyards, and has delivered a 180-ft. (55-m) by 134-ft. (41-m) door to Kvaerner Warnow Werft and a 220-ft. (67-m) by 213-ft. (65-m) door to Kvaerner Masa-Yards' Turku New Shipyard.
In all, Kvaerner Warnow Werft was outfitted with 35 Mock Doors. Managing Director C h r i s t i an Doepel is looking for resurgent European and former U.S.S.R. shipbuilding markets, reasoning, "that way, I feel I will have a lot of doors to sell." Necessity being the mother of invention, Finland's position towards the top of the world has helped it become an authority on the design, build and supply of Arctic vessels, including research vessels, icebreakers and tankers.
While the market for these vessels, particularly icebreakers, has been admittedly down, many Finnish companies are paying close attention to the needy Russian market, in the wait for politics — and more importantly, funding — to loosen up.
Propulsion Technology ABB Industry Oy is a leading edge propulsion technology company, co-developing with Kvaerner Masa-Yards the Azipod electric azimuthing propulsion system. Detailed in these pages many times since its introduction, the dieselelectric drive system offers inherent advantages to owner/operators of a variety of vessels, including the sures and small amounts of fresh water.
Stefan Gordin, Marioffs marine project coordinator, pointed to new IMO SOLAS rules and regulations on firefighting systems as helping create the market, and Marioff Hi-Fog's compact size and proven effectiveness as capitalizing on that market.
The Hi-Fog system works by propelling small droplets of water at a high momentum, and is designed to penetrate hot flue gases and reach the combustion source. According to Mr. Gordin, the system uses a stingy one liter per square meter, reportedly five times less than other systems.
As the system utilizes less water, it accordingly requires a minimum of piping and ancillary materials, affording a savings of materials and weight. To date, Marioff has delivered about 40 systems for maritime use (the system debuted in 1991), primarily incorporated into accommodation spaces. Future market potential includes use in machinery spaces, and research and development continues on providing reduced power and water consumption, while increasing extinguishing capabilities. Europe remains the company's largest market, but it is expected that the new IMO regulations will open the l1 crative U.S. cruise market. The H Fog sprinkler system was chose for projects such as the M/S Silj Europa newbuild (2,340 Hi-Fo sprinklers; built at Meyer Werft and the M/SPeter Parcretrofit (1,20 Hi-Fog sprinklers; Kvaerner Masa Yards).
Waterman Oy, a division of Scha Watercraft, manufactures partialb enclosed lifeboats, in sizes capabb of carrying 22 to 150 passengers enclosed lifeboats, in sizes capablc of carrying 15 to 100 passengers, cruise tender lifeboats; and rigid MOB rescue and lifeboats.
The Schat Watercraft group is divided into several geographic offices, with the Turku, Finland branch focusing on the cruise ship and passenger ferry business because of its proximity to so many newbuilds, said Harry Stahle, product manager, Waterman Oy. Terming this end of the industry highly competitive, Mr. Stahle said continual engineering is designed to make the product lines lighter and shorter, while enhancing both safety and passenger capacity. Additionally, the Turku unit and the U.K. unit offer slightly different product lines, allowing the company to work together to capture more market share.
