Shipyard boom and the 1989 crash

Shipbuilding has been part of Turku for centuries, but in the 1980s it reached a new scale. The yard at Perno built cruise ferries for the Baltic and cruise ships for American companies. Behind the giant ships, though, the money was running out.

A new yard

• Perno. From 1975 Wärtsilä built a new, larger shipyard at Perno in Turku. Little by little the work moved there from the old yard by the Aura. The last ship built entirely at the old yard was the ferry Rosella in 1979 (stop 42) Well documented.
• Big orders. In the late 1980s the yards were building cruise ferries for the Baltic and cruise ships for the American company Carnival Cruise Lines Well documented.
• What we do not know. We did not find how many people worked at the Turku yard in the 1980s, or how many lost their jobs in 1989 Well documented.

Wärtsilä Marine

• A merger. At the start of 1987 the shipyards of Wärtsilä and Valmet were combined into a new company, Wärtsilä Marine, owned 70% by Wärtsilä and 30% by Valmet. Its yards were in Helsinki and Turku Well documented.
• Bad deals. With Valmet came orders for the Soviet Union that were expected to lose 200–400 million marks. The costs of the Carnival cruise ships had been badly underestimated Well documented.
• Too few workers. There were not enough shipyard workers. Costly subcontracting was needed, and there were strikes, especially at Perno Well documented.
• Too little cash. Of its 1.5 billion marks of capital, the company had only 150 million in cash. It lost 205 million marks in 1987 and 638 million in 1988 Well documented.

23 October 1989

• 3.30 pm. Wärtsilä Marine was declared bankrupt on 23 October 1989. The bankruptcy took effect at half past three in the afternoon Well documented.
• Half-built ships. In the yards stood the nearly finished cruise ship Fantasy for Carnival, the ferries Kalypso and Cinderella, Silja Serenade in dry dock, and the newly started Silja Symphony and Royal Majesty Well documented.
• Paid in advance. Viking Line’s owner SF Line had been paying for its new ship during construction, so the bankruptcy put customers’ money at risk too Well documented.
• 1.6 billion. The total losses were later estimated at 1.6 billion marks Well documented.

Back to work

• Masa-Yards. In November 1989 a new company, Masa-Yards, restarted the yards in Helsinki and Turku. Its head rehired almost all the shipyard workers and about two thirds of the office staff Well documented.
• The ships sail. Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony were finished in Turku in 1990 and 1991 Likely.
• Still building. The yard at Perno is today’s Meyer Turku, which builds the largest cruise ships in the world (stop 49) Well documented.