Page 43: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1999)

FINLAND FOCUS

KMY's fixed-price contract with Ingalls includes transfer of know-how in com- mercial shipbuilding manufacturing techniques.

Letters of intent signed by KMY and the ABB electrical engineering group with SeaAmerica Cruises Lines arise from another U.S. project of consider- able potential significance.

SeaAmerica's agreement calls for

KMY to develop both the preliminary and contract design for the envisioned 1,000 passenger, U.S.-flag newbuild.

The two arms of the group retained for the program are Kvaerner Masa-Yards

Technology and Kvaerner Masa Marine.

The understanding with ABB commits

SeaAmerica to incorporate ABB propul- sion, heating, ventilation and air-condi- tioning, plus control and monitoring sys- tems into the ship in consideration of the

Finnish company's provision of support for the project.

While meeting essential technical needs of the scheme, the Finnish coop- eration has also ensured the develop- ment of the project itself. The under- standing with KMY clears the way to

SeaAmerica soliciting definitive propos- als from U.S. yards, while the ABB agreement has the added merit of pro- viding a share of the private funding necessary under U.S. Title XI financing arrangements.

KMY is no stranger to the contribution of technological know-how to the indus- try in the U.S., as demonstrated by its work on the design of the U.S. Coast

Guard's 30,000-shp polar icebreaker

Healy, built by Avondale.

Export-led fleet investments

With its major export role in the

Finnish economy, the country's vibrant forestry industry continues to have an important influence on investments in ships and shipping systems.

Among the current examples of fleet projects backed by commitments to the

Finnish trade is a newbuild program instituted in China by the Swedish com- pany Nordic Forest Terminals. The first two 8,050-dwt RoRo forest products carriers firmly booked with Jinling Ship- yard at Nanjing will be chartered to

Finnlines on scheduled delivery in

March and April 2000. The Swedish firm has options on four further vessels of the same class at Jinling, providing the Chinese yard with the prospect of serial production in a field of construc- tion which brings it into direct competi- tion with the industry in Europe.

Each of the 1,900-lane meter capacity

RoRo cargo vessels will feature stern access only via twin ramps, designed by the Swedish arm of marine equipment specialist Hamworthy KSE. Mean- while, shipments generated by Finnish forestry group UPM Kymmene will pro- vide baseload business for a new gener- ation of 21,500-dwt multi-purpose cargo vessels ordered by Amsterdam-based

Spliethoff's Bevrachtingskantoor.

A total of 10 self-sustaining new- builds, incorporating heavy-duty deck cranes, sideloaders and removable tweendecks, have been entrusted to yards in Japan and Poland by the Dutch operator, which controls one of the world's largest fleets of general-purpose traders.

Although designed to efficiently cover the gamut of general and unitized cargo,

May, 1999 Circle 291 on Reader Service Card 43