Page 42: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1999)

Aker Finnyards' drive as part of a bigger group company includes options on up to four additional vessels of the luxury 72,000-gt class, and represents a major milestone in the

U.S. shipyard industry's commercial newbuilding history.

Indicative of the challenges presented in the design task, the owner's specification calls for 85,850-sq. ft. of open deck space, a four-deck atrium, panoramic viewing possibilities from the three uppermost decks, 77 percent of passenger accommodation in outside cabins, and private balconies for 64 percent of cabins.

Within the body now of a united North European ship- building force, Aker Finnyards is reasserting itself as one of the

Nordic region's leading practi- tioners in specialized vessel construction. The delivery of the 9,700 dwt RoRo freight ship

Estraden inaugurated the 1999 delivery program, which will also see the imminent comple- tion of a seismic research vessel for a Norwegian contractor. In addition, the Finnish yard's turnover will reflect the com- missioning of a pair of 11,000- dwt RoRo trailerships, due to be phased into North Sea service in the latter part of the year.

The Rauma yard's reaffirma- tion of its capa- bilities in the

RoRo domain is pertinent both to the prognoses for newbuild demand and to the new endeav- ors and recent successes, by yards in South

Korea and

China, along with the estab- lished Japanese competition, on the European market.

Most of the 50 RoRo equipped vessels delivered from

Aker Finnyards and its prede- cessors since 1970 are still engaged in the original or simi- lar traffic for which they were designed. The latest issue from the company's modern shipyard at Rauma, the 2,270 lane-meter

Estraden, has entered the North

Sea and Baltic trade under char- ter from Finnish owner Engship to the Anglo-German operator

ArgoMann Ferry Services.

ArgoMann saw immediate virtue in the newbuild's combi- nation of capacity, cargo flexi- bility and speed for its Turku-

Bremerhaven-Harwich-Cux- haven-Tallinn-Turku sailing rotation linking markets in Fin- land, Germany, the U.K. and

Estonia. The broad stern ramp and inter-deck ramp connections between the three freight-carry- ing levels and hoistable car deck provide for efficient turnrounds, across a range of cargo permu- tations including a maximum trailer intake of 160 units. Nec- essarily incorporating the high- est, 1A ice-class for year-round

Baltic navigation, Estraden has 14,000-kW of propulsive power engendered by twin Wartsila 46 engines for a service speed of 19 knots.

In a further project entailing

Finnish ownership and British chartering interests, Aker Finn-

Aker Finnyards' development of advanced seismic research vessels has, in essence, helped fuel its own newbuild market. As the yard has continued to develop vessels which make oil discovery (and recovery) more cost effective, oil explorers are more likely to invest in new ships. yards is scheduled to deliver two larger, 20-knot trailerships in August and December this year. The vessels will become the mainstays of P&O North

Sea Ferries' trade between

Teesport and Zeebrugge, effect- ing a 35 percent increase in ser- vice capacity. At 2,600 lane- meters, the vessels will be the most capacious pure freight

RoRos in the U.K.-Continental

European traffic.

The contract strengthens the reputation of a well-known

Finnish name in the shortsea trades, that of Bore Line. The introduction of the two new- builds to its Belgian freight link will enable P&O North Sea Fer- ries to redeploy two RoRos already on charter from Bore, the 2,100 lane-meter Norking and Norqueen, to the

Teesport/Rotterdam-Europort crossing.

The upcoming delivery of a seismic research vessel to Oslo- based Aker Geo reflects the ver- satility of Aker Finnyards, which has used a Romanian- built trawler hull of 223 ft. x 46 ft. (68 m x 14 m) as the basis for the creation of a sophisticat- ed, $54.3 million newbuild of 276 ft. x 61 ft. (84 m x 18.5 m) final dimensions.

The contract marked a return by the Finnish yard to a field where it has a track record of 20 vessels for scientific, geotechni- cal, biolog- ical,

Antarctic and seis- mic research, and signals the market entry by

Aker Geo at a time when all the main seismic ship opera- tors have new ships coming into service or on order. It is also illustrative of the shipbuilder's policy of maintaining an income stream from the offshore sector in its manifold forms.

It is anticipated that Aker

Finnyards' niche market strengths and build competitive- ness will be enhanced over time as a result of the exploitation of synergies within the Aker Yards group. Joint purchasing and the exchange of expertise are regarded as key areas where benefits are obtainable for the companions in the Norwegian- owned shipbuilding enterprise, which brings together Aker

MTW, Aker Brattvaag, the

Langsten Group and Aker Finn- yards, from German, Finnish and Norwegian domains. ©SAILOR

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Electro Med • Marina Bay

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Bcome Marine Services Pvt. Ud. • New Bombay

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INDONESIA

PT Panorama Timur Jaya • Jakarta

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IRAN

Kaman Hormozgan Marine Engineering - Tehran

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Alhout-Yam Ltd. - Haifa

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Elcome International • Safat

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Selmar Electronics SAR.L- Beirut

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SAILOR Notge as • Oslo

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Elcome Internationl • Muttrah

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Eastern Technical Services Co. • Doha

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Imsat Maritime SA Constanta • Constanta

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Transas Marine Ltd. • St. Petersbuig

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Moretron Ltd • Murmansk

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Key Communications Development Ltd. • Dammam

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Radio Holland Singapore • Singapore

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Cape Maritime Electronics (Pty.) Ltd. • Cape Town

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Nautical • San Sebastian de los Reyes (Madrid)

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Unimax Electric & Co., Ltd. • Kaohsiung

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A & Marine Co., Ltd. • Samutprakarn

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Alcatel Tunisie • Tunis Cedex

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Elektro-Deniz Ltd. • Istanbul

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Elcome International LLC. • Dubai

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Ships Electronic Services Ltd. - Rochester (Kent)

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Radio-Holland De Venezuela S A. - Maracaibo

Phone: +5861 987811 - Fax: +5861 982596 42 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News