Arctech Helsinki Shipyard to Russian Ownership
”I am convinced that USC is committed to developing Arctech in long-term. We have a good order book and skilled staff. This is a good basis for future actions. We also believe that the owner commitment will now be stronger compared to the joint venture arrangement”, says Esko Mustamäki, the Managing Director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.
“We have closed the transaction on acquisition of the remaining 50% of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Inc. Now this company is 100% owned by USC. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has wide experience in building ice-class supply vessels and different civil ships. So we have obtained not only full access to technical documentation and the know-how but also to the people who can share this knowledge. The company has efficient assets, but the advantage of the asset is in its human potential”, says Aleksey Rakhmanov, the Managing Director of USC.
At the moment Arctech is building six icebreaking vessels. The first vessel, a Baltic icebreaker for the Russian Ministry of Transport, is due to be delivered in autumn 2015. The second vessel, the world´s first LNG-powered icebreaker for the Finnish Transport Agency, will be delivered by the beginning of 2016. In spring 2014 Arctech was awarded a contract to build an icebreaking supply vessel for the Russia´s largest shipping company Sovcomflot. Early summer, Arctech received an additional order of three icebreaking stand-by vessels. Arctech´s order book now extends until summer 2017.
United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) was founded in 2007 to unite and operate the shipbuilding industry in Russia. The company owns majority of the industry in Russia including both navy and civil shipbuilding sectors.