Wärtsilä has signed a letter of intent with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) to set up a 50/50 joint venture to manufacture marine auxiliary engines in China. The location of the new factory will be in the Shanghai area.
The intention is to start the production of the defined Auxpac W20 generating sets for the growing shipbuilding market in China and to sell these through Wärtsilä global network. Auxiliary engines are used for producing electricity in ships.
The parties aim to finalize the negotiations during the first half of 2005.
China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) is one of the largest groups in China in the field of design, manufacture and trade of military and merchant ships, marine engineering and marine equipment. CSIC consists of 47 industrial enterprises, 28 scientific technological research institutes and 20 share-holding companies.
In 2004 CSIC's ship deliveries totalled 2.14 million DWT with an actual order book of 10.2 million DWT. The total number of employees is 160,000.
Wärtsilä Corporation is the leading ship power supplier for builders, owners and operators of vessels and offshore installations. Wärtsilä has a global service network to take complete care of customers' ship machinery at every lifecycle stage in more than 60 countries.
Wärtsilä is a leading provider of power plants, operation and lifetime care services in decentralized power generation.
In 2003 Wärtsilä generated net sales totalling EUR 2.4 billion. It has 12,000 employees.