Aker Yards Cruise News

The third in the series of the world´s largest cruise vessels for Royal Caribbean was delivered in Aker Yards, Turku. The “Independence of the Seas” has all of the signature elements of her sister ships “Freedom of the Seas” and “Liberty of the Seas”, making the Freedom-class ships the most innovative and forward-looking class of ships in the cruise industry for the time being. The vessel is like a small city with lots of service: many restaurants, theatres, cafés, shopping mall…

Aker Yards signed a contract with Tide Sjø AS for three ferries dedicated to operate the link between Oslo and the peninsula of Nesodden. The ferries will be built in France at Aker Yards, Lorient. The total contract price is approximately EUR 45 million. Construction will start in March next year and all three ferries will be delivered in the first half of 2009 and start operating in July 2009. The three ferries will have a capacity of 600 passengers and will be using environmental friendly LNG propulsion, a technology in which Aker Yards has a strong track record. Recently, five LNG-fuelled ferries were delivered for operation on the west coast of Norway.

home-ported in Europe. to her May 2008 debut. gallons of water into the wet dock area.

Juha Heikinheimo has been appointed as President of Aker Yards' business area Cruise & Ferries and President of Aker Yards Oy in Finland. He will also be a part of the executive management team in Aker Yards. He will be based in Helsinki. Heikinheimo takes over from and reports to Mr. Yrjö Julin, who was earlier this week appointed President and CEO of Aker Yards ASA.

Aker Yards Cabins, France has been launched under the legal name of Aker Yards Cabins SAS. It is part of the cabins business within Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries including two factories in Finland and one in France. Aker Yards Cabins, Finland has in the last 25 years developed an independent and profitable business of prefabricated cabins serving yards all over Europe. The French unit will benefit from this unique expertise and both units will develop synergies in R&D, design, production, sourcing and human resources.

Aker Yards announced several executive sales and marketing appointments for its Cruise & Ferry business in the wake of its acquisition of the French yards in Saint Nazaire and Lorient earlier this year. Juha Heikinheimo is in charge of Sales and Marketing in the Cruise & Ferries Business Area, and he reports to Yrjö Julin, President. Carl-Gustaf Rotkirch is in charge of the sales function in Finland and Arnaud Le Joncour in France. Both are also appointed as members of the local management teams. They report to Heikinheimo. So do the other sales managers, Didier Bourdin, Håkan Enlund, Jean-Yves Fustier, Paavo Lohi, Kari Pulli, François Sieur, Johan Snellman and Hannu Tuomela. Eero Mäkinen is in charge of Marketing, reporting to Heikinheimo.

first plate for Aker Yards newbuilding No. 1358. and catamarans. The emphasis will be on customer comfort, eg. innovative restaurants and a high class conference centre. regardless of weather conditions. The 607 x 91 ft. vessel will be taking 2,500 passengers, and driven by 40 MW engines giving the vessel a speed of 25 knots.

The keel of the cruise ship to be named Color Magic was laid at Aker Yards. Both Chairman of the Board Olav Nils Sunde and CEO Trond Kleivdal from Color Line were present, hosted by Yrjö Julin, President of Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries. The contract of building this vessel, worth $418m, was signed on May 27, 2005, and secures work at the yard for about 1,200 man-years, and about the same number for outside sub-contractors and still more for suppliers of material and components. MS Color Magic will be built partly at the yard in Turku, and partly at the yard in Rauma. Delivery will take place in Rauma in autumn 2007. The vessel to start traffic the route Oslo - Kiel as from the fourth quarter 2007 will be Color Line s second cruise ship with car deck.

Royal Caribbean International orders a new generation cruise vessel from Aker Yards. The contract price being approximately $1.07 billion, this is the most valuable ship ever ordered in the history of commercial shipbuilding. The 220,000 GRT ship, a prototype developed under Project Genesis, will be delivered from Aker Yards, Finland in autumn 2009. The order means 5,800 man years of work for the yard. The contract includes an option for a similar vessel. "After developing so many generations of cruise ships together over the 35 years of our partnership with RCCL we are excited about jumping so far out in front of cruise-ship design with this highly innovative and exciting new ship" says Yrjö Julin, President responsible for Aker Yards Cruise & Ferries business area.

The Letter of Intent (LOI) for a RoRo-passenger ferry signed on December 23 by Aker Yards and the French company Brittany Ferries was today confirmed as a firm contract worth approximately 110 million euro. The vessel will be delivered from Aker Yards, Finland in October 2008. The present orderbook of Aker Yards includes another order from Brittany Ferries, i.e. a trailer ropax worth EUR 80 million to be delivered in autumn 2007. The new ferry is designed to carry passengers, cars and road cargo vehicles between France and the United Kingdom at a speed of 23 knots. The 167 m long and 26.8 m wide vessel, which has been developed in a close co-operation between the Owner and the yard, will have space for 1,500 passengers and 1.1 kilometres of vehicle deck space.

Aker Yards and the French company Brittany Ferries have signed a Letter of Intent for the building of a RoRo-passenger ferry worth approximately $130 million for delivery in October 2008. The ferry is designed to carry passengers, private cars and road cargo vehicles between France and the U.K. at a speed of 23 knots. The 167 m long and 26.8 m wide vessel will have space for 1,500 passengers and 1.1 km of vehicle deck space. The new type of ferry has been developed in a close co-operation between the Owner and the yard. "This has been a record year for Aker Yards in Finland: we have published contracts for 12 newbuildings and 7 conversions…