Turku shipyard wins major cruise ship order from Germany

The German tour operator TUI Cruises and STX Finland Oy, the Finnish arm of STX Europe, which in turn is a subsidiary of the South Korean shipbuilding giant STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, confirmed on Tuesday that they have signed a contract for the design and construction of a large cruise vessel, with an option for a second to be built at some later time.
      The ship will be built at the STX Turku shipyard. The Finnish edition of Helsingin Sanomat reported on the likely order last week.
     
The deal is said to be worth around EUR 450 million.
      According to STX Europe, “the project will bring some 5,500 man-years of labour to STX Finland's Turku shipyard”. The gross tonnage of the cruise liner will be 97,000 and it will accommodate 2,500 passengers. The vessel will be 295 metres in length.
      The Finnish state-owned specialised financing company Finnvera also plays a role in the deal by providing post-delivery credit guarantees that cover 95 per cent of the EUR 360 million buyer credit.
     
Whilst this new vessel is not in the same size category as the leviathan Royal Caribbean cruise liners built previously in Turku, the news will have come as a huge relief, as the downturn in orders had led to layoffs and to fears of massive unemployment in the branch, with a knock-on effect hitting thousands of sub-contractors and suppliers.
      Things are now looking somewhat better, with a Viking Line cruise ferry contract already secured last year, the Rauma Shipyard recently earning an order from Brazil (see linked article), and the ArcTech Helsinki Shipyard working on two icebreaking supply vessels for a Russian customer.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  STX Turku yard receives order for special cargo vessel (24.3.2011)
  Viking Line to order new ship from Turku shipyard (26.10.2010)
  Orders from Brazil bringing work to beleaguered Rauma shipyard (9.9.2011)

See also:
  Crisis in shipbuilding industry threatens to engulf Turku region (14.10.2010)
  Mega cruise liner Oasis of the Seas completed on schedule (29.10.2009)
  Government ready to help struggling shipyards to make it through recession (19.1.2010)

Links:
  Arctech Helsinki Shipyard To Build Sovcomflot Icebreaker Supply Vessels (Dec. 2010)
  STX Europe
  MarineLog: Artist´s impressions of the new vessel