Meyer Turku formed after purchase

The State of Finland and the German shipbuilder Meyer Werft have finalised the purchase of the whole share capital of STX Finland from STX Europe. The new name of the company is Meyer Turku.

Meanwhile, the order from Germany’s TUI Cruises for two new cruise ships from Meyer Turku has become effective. The vessels that are on order are sisterships for Mein Schiff 3, which was delivered from the Turku shipyard in May 2014, and Mein Schiff 4, which will be delivered to TUI Cruises in May 2015.

A statement by Meyer Turku said: “The order of these two new ships is expected to create a direct employment effect of at least 10,000 man years. The ships will be delivered in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, Meyer Turku and TUI Cruises agreed on two options, with deliveries in 2018 and 2019.”

Meyer Werft took up 70 per cent of the shares and will carry the main responsibility for the yard’s operations and its further development. The State of Finland purchased 30 per cent of the share capital through Finnish Industry Investment, a fully government-owned investment company. “The investors have injected new equity into the new company, which will constitute a solid basis for further development,” the statement said.

The chief executive of Meyer Werft, Jan Meyer, also takes the position of chief executive of Meyer Turku.

“We now have a great chance to make the Turku yard strong again. It will not be easy – the competition in our market remains intense. Yet we found a strong and committed team in Turku. In addition there is a lot of potential for learning from each other for the benefit of all our yards in Papenburg, Warnemünde and Turku. We just have to work hard on it and constantly improve our productivity. This is the only way to ensure that we can continue the great legacy of Turku yard for many years to come”, said Mr Meyer.

Jan Vapaavuori, minister of economic affairs, said: “The Finnish shipyards’ know-how is very important for the whole maritime industry in Europe. It is a high-tech industry. We have great expectations from our important investment in the Turku shipyard.”

The Turku yard said that it will focus on cruise ships, ferries, and special ships. PST