Jaakko Eskola News

Finnish cargo handling machinery manufacturer Cargotec on Monday announced its board of directors has appointed Casimir Lindholm to succeed Mika Vehviläinen as the company's president and CEO, effective April 1, 2023.A member of Cargotec's board since 2021, Lindholm has held CEO positions both in Eltel and Lemminkäinen and many board memberships.“I’m honored and excited to be leading Cargotec at such a pivotal moment in the company’s history, with a strong foundation and a clear vision into its next development phase of growth as we have communicated before.

Cargotec announced on Tuesday that its board of directors received notification from CEO Mika Vehviläinen that he will retire in 2023, in accordance with the terms of his contract.The board has started its a search for a successor, the Finnish cargo-handling machinery manufacturer said.“It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to lead the transformation of Cargotec together with so many committed and talented colleagues. After 10 years as CEO of the company, I believe this…

Mercy Ships' new hospital ship Global Mercy, nearing completion at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in China, will be powered by four Wärtsilä 32 engines.When completed, the philanthropic organization's Global Mercy will be the world’s largest vessel of its kind, providing essential healthcare to patients in developing countries. Mercy Ships expects to take delivery in 2021, and the ship’s maiden voyage is planned later in the year to Africa where crew will provide vital surgical care at no cost.Wärtsilä…

Finland-based marine engine and technology provider Wärtsilä has appointed Håkan Agnevall as its next president and CEO.Agnevall, who is currently president of Volvo's bus division, will start in his role no later than in April 2021, succeeding Jaakko Eskola, who will continue with the company as a senior advisor and executive until he retires on June 30, 2021, after 22 years with the group.Agnevall has been with the Volvo Group  since 2013. In the decade prior to that he held various leadership positions in Bombardier and in ABB…

Wärtsilä Corporation’s half year financial report through June 2020 was littered with bad news due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with order intake and order book both down – 19% and 12% respectively in the January to June 2020 period. But the bad news was countered with a report of stable net sales and strong cash flow.“The adverse impact of COVID-19 on both our own operations and those of our customers increased during the second quarter. This was clearly visible in the decrease in orders received across all businesses,” Jaakko Eskola, President and CEO, Wärtsilä.

Finnish ship technology and power-plant maker Wartsila said on Tuesday the coronavirus outbreak has caused the share of renewable energy in Europe's power production to increase rapidly.The pandemic has caused demand for electricity to fall across Europe, Wartsila said, according to data it collected and analysed.Countries such as Germany, Spain and Britain have had to temporarily shut down coal-fired power generation, causing the share of renewable energy to increase rapidly in the power mix."Take Germany last week, they actually had over 10 gigawatts of excess energy production because they were still running their coal-fired plants ...

Finland's Wärtsilä on Tuesday missed expectations with a 45% drop in quarterly profit hurt by the coronavirus outbreak, sending its shares down more than 6%, despite order intake at the ship technology and power plant maker falling less than expected.CEO Jaakko Eskola said demand in the first quarter had remained reasonable given the market conditions but among Wärtsilä's clients the cruise ship segment had been severely affected and several energy project sites had been demobilized."In the energy markets, deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and the anticipated decrease in electricity consu

Wärtsilä announced it will reorganize its marine business into three independent entities, with the objective to accelerate strategy execution and simplify the business structure.The new businesses, consisting of Marine Power, Marine Systems and Marine Voyage, will be operational as of July 1, 2020.The organizational structure change is a continuation to the shifts made in 2019, whereby Wärtsilä's equipment and service businesses were integrated to strengthen the focus on complete lifecycle solutions…

There was general consensus that cities are fast becoming the drivers of global development in a world that needs to find greener and more sustainable solutions, said SEA20, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at bringing together a selected group of representatives from the world’s most influential port cities to plan the future of urban living and the role of shipping within that.Pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and increasing congestion are contributing to social tension in cities. The maritime sector has a significant role to play in abating these issues if only the doors would be further opened to encourage a better relationship…

Finnish based technology group Wärtsilä announced plans to reorganize into two business areas, Wärtsilä Marine Business and Wärtsilä Energy Business, covering both new sales and services for the respective markets.The new organizational structure will be operational as of January 1, 2019.Jaakko Eskola, President & CEO, said, “Developing stronger partnerships with our customers and providing them with greater value is essential for reaching our long-term target of profitable growth.

Wärtsilä has unveiled a global initiative that aims to transform the world’s marine and energy industry into a more efficient, ecologically sound and digitally connected ecosystem. The initiative, which Wärtsilä calls “An Oceanic Awakening”, was announced at the SMM maritime trade fair in Hamburg.Wärtsilä said its drive to activate a fully-integrated smart ecosystem aims to address major maritime inefficiencies that impose a significant negative impact on profitability and sustainability…

Marco Wirén, M.Sc. (Econ.), has been appointed President of Energy Solutions, Executive Vice President and member of the Board of Management of Wärtsilä Corporation, effective October 1, 2018.In this position, he is responsible for Wärtsilä's Energy Solutions business globally, and will report to President & CEO Jaakko Eskola.Wirén is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Wärtsilä, holding this position since August 2013. Prior to joining Wärtsilä, he had broad-ranging experience of financial management and international business management from the steel manufacturer SSAB, the infranet company Eltel Networks, and the construction company NCC.Arjen Berends (50)…

Wärtsilä is building a new center of research, product development and production, in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa. As of 2020, all of Wärtsilä's functions and personnel in central Vaasa will transfer to the new Smart Technology Hub, along with the logistics and maintenance workshop operations from Runsor.As a part of the project, Wärtsilä will invest 83 million euros in modern testing and production technology for the hub. The total investment in the Smart Technology Hub will be in the region of 200 million euros…

Ship technology and power plant maker Wartsila missed profit expectations on Thursday, citing postponed energy projects, but new orders beat forecasts with the help of rising demand for its marine sulphur scrubbers.Shares in the Finnish company dropped 4 percent by 0920 GMT after second-quarter core profit came in flat from a year ago at 123 million euros, way below the 147 million euros expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.CEO Jaakko Eskola, however, said some sales had just…

With digitalization technologies sweeping through maritime, Henrik Segercrantz, Maritime Reporter’s correspondent in Helsinki, explores latest developments in the quest to harness the power of 'big data.'Wärtsilä's Smart Marine EcosystemWärtsilä continues to build its leadership resume in marine and energy markets, boasting net sales of $5.7 billion last year, supported by 18,000 employees with operations in more than 80 countries. Increasingly Wärtsilä is using ‘smart’ technologies in its growing scope of products for the maritime industry…

Finnish ship technology and power plant maker Wartsila missed first-quarter earnings expectations on Tuesday and said geopolitical uncertainty was slowing demand in the marine market. In a phone interview following the quarterly report, Chief Executive Jaakko Eskola said Wartsila aimed to grow through acquisitions and that it continued to look at Rolls-Royce's marine business, which the British company is reviewing for a possible sale. Wartsila said the marine sector, which has been hit by overcapacity and lack of financing, was recovering, but not at the pace the company had anticipated. "We are seeing that this geopolitical uncertainty impacts customers' decision-making ... merchant and offshore segments' activity is not growing as we had thought," Eskola said. "It is a concern.

Finland's Wärtsilä said on Wednesday it will take a look at Rolls-Royce's loss-making marine business which the British company is reviewing for possible sale. "If we see any interesting player in the market, who would fit well to our strategy... we would definitely look at it," Wärtsilä Chief Executive Jaakko Eskola told a news conference. The two companies said in 2014 that Rolls-Royce had made an approach to take over Wärtsilä, but those talks ended without a deal.

Technology group Wärtsilä and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) have signed a new joint venture company agreement. The new joint venture, to be known as CSSC Wärtsilä Electrical & Automation Co Ltd (CWE&A), will focus on the growing Chinese electrical and automation (E&A) market, especially for high-tech ship applications. The joint venture company is expected to be fully operational before the middle of 2017. China is a growing market within the high-tech ships segment, and Chinese yards are increasingly active in newbuild projects for high-tech and high-added value ships.

CSSC Wärtsilä Engine Co Ltd (CWEC), the joint venture company formed between Wärtsilä and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), has formally opened its new production facilities located at Lingang, Shanghai. The opening ceremony took place on 9 January, and was attended by top executives from both Wärtsilä and CSSC. The new 20,000 m2 production plant is the first in China capable of locally producing large-bore, medium speed diesel and dual-fuel (DF) engines. The plant will also manufacture medium-bore, medium speed diesel and DF engines. Wärtsilä 26, Wärtsilä 32, Wärtsilä 34DF, Wärtsilä 46F and Wärtsilä 46DF engines will be produced at the factory, which has a planned production capacity of 180 engines per year.

In the marine markets, contracting activity fell to an exceptionally low level, Jaakko Eskola, President & CEO, Wärtsilä said in the annual report 2016. The majority of the volume decline was seen in the shipping industry, where overcapacity and low earnings remain the key challenges. Low oil prices and reduced capital expenditures from oil companies continued to limit demand also in the offshore industry. For some years already, Wärtsilä has focused on developing an extensive offering and a wide market exposure. This positioning served us well in 2016, enabling us to capture opportunities in niche markets, such as cruise and ferry, where the demand for new vessels was unaffected by the general market weakness.

The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has signed an agreement with the Seabin Project to join their global pilot programme, which addresses the worldwide littering problem affecting our oceans. The project aims at approaching the challenge from multiple angles with a key emphasis on education, research and technology. Wärtsilä will work in cooperation with Seabin Project for the next three years and has sponsored both the city and port of Helsinki's involvement with the programme. The Wärtsilä - Seabin partnership aims at dynamic and versatile actions using Wärtsilä's experience, established technologies, and know-how in environmental product development. The partnership with Seabin is part of Wärtsilä Corporation's Finland 100 year centennial programme.

Finnish ship engine and power plant maker Wartsila reported weaker-than-expected quarterly profit and order intake on Wednesday. Wartsila cited tight competition in the energy markets and overcapacity of ships. However, the company repeated its full-year profitability outlook, surprising analysts. Second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was 122 million euros ($134.4 million) versus forecast of 138 million euros in Reuters poll. Wartsila expects 2016 net sales to increase by 0-5 percent and profitability to be 12.5-13.0 percent. Analysts had on average expected a full-year operating margin of 12.3 percent. CEO…

New joint co-operation between Gasum and Wärtsilä aims to develop the utilization and distribution of natural energy gases in marine and land markets. Gasum, the Nordic leader in natural gases and Wärtsilä, a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets have signed a Joint Co-operation Agreement aimed at developing the utilization and distribution of natural energy gases in marine and land markets. The agreement between Gasum and Wärtsilä was signed August 29, 2016 and will run for several years. The purpose of the agreement is to develop the Gas Value Chain in order to advance carbon neutrality.