Julin News

Auramarine, provider of fuel supply systems and other auxiliary equipment for the marine, power and process industries, announced its relocation in Shanghai, China.Auramarine’s CEO John Bergman said, “Our new factory enables us to increase our production capacity to meet the demands of the coming years, while also providing a first-class working environment for our dedicated staff. All of these improvements will result in shorter lead times, a wider variety of testing possibilities…

Auramarine appointed Tomi Julin as its new General Manager of Auramarine Asia Ltd. Julin has worked at Auramarine for more than two decades, with his most recent positions including Technical Director, Product Line Manager and Project Manager in both Finland and China. The development signals the company’s growth plans for its business in the Asia region.

The troubles at Aker Yards now have a number to them, as the company reported a loss for the year and that its CEO has been forced out. Aker Yards ASA reported an EBITDA result of NOK -500 million ($96,000) for the 4Q of 2007. The EBITDA result for 2007 was NOK -16 million ($3m), down from NOK 1 443 ($277m) in 2006. Earnings per share (EPS) were NOK -2.81 for the quarter, and NOK 0.95 for the full year 2007. Fast growth in the very heated environment has, as previously announced, resulted in operational challenges in the quarter, and affected the 2007 results negatively.

Mr Leif Borge, CFO, has accepted a position as CFO in Aker Kvaerner ASA and will for that reason leave Aker Yards at the end of his notice period. Recruitment of his successor has been initiated. Mr Borge has been CFO of Aker Yards since 2002. Mr Julin says in a comment: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Borge for the excellent work he has put down for Aker Yards so far. He has been instrumental in developing the company into its current form, as a leading international shipbuilder with 21 000 employees. Since the listing at Oslo Stock Exchange in 2004, Mr Borge has been an important contributor to the company's growth."

The Board of Aker Finnyards Oy has appointed Mr Jyrki Heinimaa as the new President of the Finnish shipbuilding company Aker Finnyards Oy. Heinimaa (38), LL.M., the present Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration, of the company has been employed by the company since 1996 attending first to the legal matters and since 1999 also for the financial administration. Heinimaa will for the present continue also as the CFO of the company. “I very much appreciate the honor to continue Yrjö Julin’s work at Aker Finnyards. Yrjö has done an excellent work and created a good basis for the further development of the company. I am with great interest and enthusiasm looking forward to the new challenges”, Heinimaa said.

Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc. (KMY), signed a conditional contract with FS Ocean Club Ltd., managed by Ocean Development Group, to design, construct and deliver an approximately 42,500 Gross Ton luxury residential ship to be branded, managed and operated by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The ship, to be named the M/S Four Seasons, will be approximately 200 meters in length and will feature approximately 100 spacious residences varying from 125 square meters to 320 square meters. "KMY is excited to have the opportunity to work with both Four Seasons and Ocean Development Group on this new project," said Mr. Yrjö Julin, President and CEO, KMY.

Royal Caribbean International Ltd. and Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc. have agreed on a revitalization project, including a midbody lengthening, for the luxury cruise ship M/S Enchantment of the Seas. The project has been developed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.'s Customer Service Division. The midbody will be built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Turku and the lengthening will take place between mid-May and early July 2005 while the cruise ship is being drydocked at the Keppel Verolme Shipyard in Rotterdam. The contract value for Kvaerner Masa-Yards is some €40-45 million.

The announced merger of Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Aker Finyards — both members of the Aker Yards Groups — draws to a conclusion nearly a decade of change within the Finnish shipbuilding community, while providing the technically talented and market capable company with a clear vision for the future. Long an elite member of the world's select fraternity of "high value ship" builders, the Finnish maritime community has built and maintained a leadership in several technically demanding categories — cruise shipping, LNG carriers and ice ship technology, to name but a few — despite the country's relatively small size, environmental challenges and fierce competition from lower cost competitors in the Far East Aker Yards Group recently announced the merger of Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.

Since the beginning of 2005 Finland's three largest shipyards in Helsinki, Rauma and Turku have been working as one company, the new Aker Finnyards. As a part of the restructuring, negotiations were started on November 9 with the employee representatives to improve the productivity of the yards. The formal negotiations have now been concluded, and the number of employees that will be affected will be approximately 315. "I am very pleased with the result, and that we have come to a joint solution with the employee representatives to develop Aker Finnyards' competitiveness. For winning new orders, improving competitiveness is a prerequisite, and a daily challenge for our yard, personnel and our network of co-operation partners.

Aker Finnyards, a part of Aker Yards, and the Finnish Navy have today signed a contract for building the fourth Hamina-class fast surface combatant worth €21.7 million for delivery summer 2006. Today there was also signed a contract of the conversion of the "Hamina", one of the previous vessels in the squadron, including installation of combat systems, at a price of €6.3 million. The above agreed implies in all 300 man years of work for the yard. President of Aker Finnyards, Yrjö Julin, says these are important contracts for the yard. "We were very pleased to sign these contracts. The Finnish Navy has been and is a very important customer for our company. The first Hamina-class vessel, the "Hamina" was built in 1998, and the second, the "Tornio" was delivered in May 2003.

Color Line AS and Aker Yards signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the order of a second ship, a sister vessel to M/S Color Fantasy, the world's largest cruise ship with car decks delivered from Aker Finnyards the 3rd of December 2004. The contract value is at the same level as for M/S Color Fantasy, approximately EUR 300 million. The agreement is subject to certain conditions, including Color Line and Aker Yards board approval. The contract is anticipated to be made effective within the second quarter of 2005. "We are extremely pleased to continue our strong relationship with Color Line by building this sister vessel to M/S Color Fantasy.” says Yrjö Julin, President of Aker Finnyards.

Aker Yards and the Estonian Tallink Group have signed a contract for the building of a fast passenger ferry for delivery in spring 2007, worth around 110 million euro. The contract includes an option for another similar vessel. The new ferry to be delivered from the yard in Helsinki is of a new and innovative design. She will start regular traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn and will be capable to cross the sea between the two cities in 1 hour and 50 minutes. The ice class of the ferry will allow year-around operation. Besides 1,900 passengers, the 185 m long and 27.7 m wide vessel is designed to carry private cars and freight units by having more than two kilometres of vehicle deck space. Aker Yards is the leading ferry builder in the world.

Aker Yards and the French company Brittany Ferries have signed a contract for the building of a ropax vessel worth EUR 80 million for delivery in autumn 2007. The contract includes an option of a similar vessel. The vessel will be delivered from the yard in Helsinki, while the blocks will be fabricated mainly in Rauma. "Having delivered two car ferries for Brittany Ferries in the beginning of the 1990`s, we are now very pleased to renew our relationship with the company", said Yrjö Julin, President of Aker Finnyards and responsible for Cruise & Ferries in Aker Yards. The trailer ropax is designed to carry road cargo vehicles between France and The United Kingdom at a speed of 23 knots. The 165 m long and 26.8 m wide vessel has 2.2 kilometres of vehicle deck space and 120 cabins.

Aker Yards ASA reported an EBITDA result of NOK -153 million for the second quarter of 2007. The EBITDA result for 2007 is estimated to be about NOK 900 million, and the net profit estimated about NOK 700 million. The guidance for 2008 is maintained at 5-6 percent EBITDA margin, and the long term target of 7 percent remains. A thorough review has been carried out for the Finnish yards, confirming the view issued in the July press release. The remaining portfolio has also been reviewed. A one off charge of approximately NOK 500 million has been taken in the business areas Merchant Vessels and Cruise & Ferries. The newly appointed President & CEO, Yrjö Julin said "We have been growing very fast in a heated environment, resulting in operational challenges.

Tom Einertsen has been appointed President of Aker Yards' business area Merchant Vessels, and a member of the Executive Management Team, succeeding Jürgen Kennemann. Einertsen will report to Yrjö Julin, President & CEO of Aker Yards and be based in Oslo. Einertsen joined Aker Yards in 2003, and has been Senior Vice President Business Development since June 2005. His main responsibilities in this role have been business improvement processes and development activities especially in the Far East. Before this Mr. Einertsen was Senior Vice President Group Sourcing from June 2004 to June 2005. Prior to joining Aker Yards, Einertsen was Managing Director of Aker Cold Bending and participated in the restructuring of Aker Verdal in Aker Kvaerner for a period of 3 years.

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 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 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.

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.

Aker Arctic, which started operations as a new company in the beginning of 2005, has erected a modern new office and ice model test facility in the Vuosaari district of Helsinki. The premises were inaugurated today in the presence of Finland s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Mauri Pekkarinen. Speeches were also heard from President Yrjö Julin with the compliments of Aker Yards, and Mikko Niini, Managing Director of Aker Arctic. In addition to the ice laboratory and model testing activities Aker Arctic is offering its own portfolio of conceptual ship designs for various yards, ship owners and offshore operators interested in operations in ice-infested cold waters. Aker Yards is the majority share holder of Aker Arctic with 62.5 %.

Aker Yards and ALSTOM announced on January 4 the intention to join forces in shipbuilding. The transaction was concluded during a signature ceremony in Paris May 31. Reference is made to the company disclosure dated January 4 in respect of the establishment of a new company consisting of ALSTOM's shipyards in Saint-Nazaire and Lorient. All the necessary approvals from authorities have now been received, and all other conditions have been lifted. In connection with the closing of the transaction the new company has received a committed offer of 550m Euro in construction financing to finish its current backlog of cruise ships. The financing is underwritten by a syndicate of four international banks.

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.