STX Finland says the Rauma yard will run out of orders when a vessel ordered by the Border Guard is filled in 2014. After that, production will shift to the company’s Turku yard and some 700 people will lose their jobs at the end of June 2014.
Around 750 people are employed by STX in Rauma at present, with the majority currently furloughed.
“The decisions made now are based on a realistic estimate of the company’s current state and the market outlook. They will halt the company’s vicious circle of losses, now in its sixth year, and lay the foundation for a profitable business,” Jari Anttila, Deputy CEO of STX Finland said in a statement.
STX Finland has been losing money as a result of a decline in orders and competition from cheaper shipyards in the far-east. The company’s Turku yard suffered a heavy blow earlier this year when an order for a new cruise ship went to a French competitor rather than STX Finland in Turku.
The company is to start negotiating with employee representatives over the timetable for job losses and restructuring. Management says concrete support and employment measures will be on offer to those made redundant as a result of the changes.
“We regret having to make such tough decisions that will hit the Rauma Shipyard especially hard. But the alternative would have been the shutting down of the Finnish shipyard industry and the ending of our 300-year heritage of shipbuilding. These decisions will enable a healthy and profitable shipyard industry to flourish in Finland,” said Anttila.