Mika Laurilehto, acting CEO of Rauma Marine Constructions, presented RMC’s solutions for zero-emission shipping, in both the Baltic Sea and on a larger scale, to Finnish and Swedish industry representatives on 18 May 2022. Solutions based on cross-sector cooperation, local renewable fuels and an understanding of the geographical and business-related landscape, represent a few notable examples of RMC’s core competences.

Zero-emission shipping requires strong cooperation and full-scale utilisation of the latest environmentally friendly solutions from different maritime industries. The solutions must also take into account the year-round Nordic conditions of the Baltic Sea, in particular.

“The issue is not in fact only about shipping; the approach should be extended to entire logistics ecosystems. This includes combining sustainable shipping to carbon-neutral road transport, optimising logistics chains in terms of energy consumption, and using local renewable fuels,” says Mika Laurilehto, acting CEO of RMC.

Laurilehto spoke about the topic to Finnish and Swedish industry representatives at a Business Roundtable event on 18 May 2022, which was held in connection with the state visit to Sweden of Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland. Laurilehto was part of the business delegation consisting of representatives from the maritime industry sector.

Local renewable fuels enable zero-emission transport chains

The goal for zero-emission maritime transport by the year 2050 was published at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021. In addition, individual fossil-free-operated shipping routes, ‘green corridors’, were established as the near-future goal of the maritime transport industry.

According to Laurilehto, RMC’s idea of local renewable fuels are considered an optimal solution in terms of helping to implement the green transition, for example, along the shipping routes of the Baltic Sea. Fuels based on locally manufactured renewable energy do not require extensive transportation; in the best-case scenario, the ships can be fuelled in the direct vicinity of the production plant itself. This will lower the emissions throughout the entire value chain.

“When it comes to both fuels and ship-building skills, we strongly believe in self-sufficiency. Finland has the opportunity to be the frontrunner in the green transition of maritime transport. At RMC, we want to be part of building future solutions, but it is important to also look at the big picture. It is not enough to only have carbon-neutral maritime transport; the entire logistics chain from land to sea and back must be emissions-free,” states Laurilehto.

Year-round shipping must take into account the conditions of the Baltic Sea

The situation concerning shipping in Finland and Sweden is unique when compared to other countries, because the conditions in the Baltic Sea require the ships to operate even during winter. Both Finland and Sweden are planning to replace their current icebreakers due to the fact that the ships are approaching the end of their life cycle.

“The situation with the icebreakers is presently more acute in Sweden than in Finland. The icebreakers must also aim for zero emissions, which was not considered relevant when the now aging vessels were built. This will make the project more challenging, since the icebreakers require considerable power and energy to be able to open up a lane for increasingly larger merchant vessels,” Laurilehto explains.

The decision about the acquisition of icebreakers has not yet been made in either of the two countries, but Sweden has already initially inquired about RMC’s interest in the proposed project. Rauma already has extensive experience of arctic seafare, with the shipyard having built the multipurpose icebreakers Fennica, Nordica, and Botnica, which are still in use. Furthermore, RMC has also been responsible for the upkeep of  other Finnish multipurpose icebreakers.

RMC is currently finishing the new car and passenger ferry MyStar for Tallink. The company is also working on four multipurpose corvettes for the Finnish Defence Forces and two next-generation RoPax car and passenger ferries for Tasmanian TT-Line.

The Board of Rauma Marine Constructions has appointed Mika Heiskanen, M.Sc., as the company’s new CEO and President. The new CEO will take up the position after the summer. Mr Heiskanen has an extensive track record in the shipbuilding industry, including leadership positions at Meyer Turku and Royal Caribbean Cruises’ new construction programme in Finland and Germany.

Founded in 2014, Rauma Marine Constructions has grown quickly and become a major Finnish-owned shipbuilding company with an order book of over EUR 1 billion. The company has made changes to its leadership during the spring. Mika Heiskanen (38), who has now been appointed as CEO and President of RMC, will take up his new position after the summer. Until then, the company will be led by the acting CEO Mika Laurilehto.

Mr Heiskanen has an extensive track record in shipbuilding. Most recently, he was responsible for production as an Executive Board Member at Meyer Turku Oy in Turku, Finland. From 2016 to 2020, Heiskanen led the company’s hull production, design and engineering. Prior to Meyer Turku, Heiskanen worked in an international role at cruise ship giant Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, where he was responsible for newbuilding projects in Papenburg, Germany. Heiskanen is a graduate of Aalto University, where he studied naval architecture and industrial engineering. He started his career at STX Finland as a sales project engineer and as the main designer of TUI’s cruiser prototype.

Heiskanen has also led the Boards of two network companies, Shipbuilding Completion Oy and Technology Design and Engineering Eng’Nd Oy.

RMC operates on a network model. The company has more than 200 employees leading the cooperation with dozens of partner companies, who are responsible for the execution of projects. Mikko Niini, Chairman of RMC’s Board of Directors, finds Heiskanen a perfect fit for the role because of his experience in international projects and leading networked operations.

“Mika Heiskanen has the ability to get RMC back on track towards profitable shipbuilding. He has a strong background in leading networked operations and a clear vision of a customer-oriented operating model in an international market. These support RMC’s strategy in a brilliant way,” Niini says.

RMC is currently finishing Estonian shipping company Tallink’s new car and passenger ferry MyStar and building two fast RoPax vessels for Spirit of Tasmania, which will operate the route between mainland Australia and Tasmania. In addition, the production of new combat vessels for the Finnish Defence Forces is about to start.

“I’m proud to become part of RMC’s unique growth story. Together with its highly skilled professional personnel and network of partner companies, RMC can design and produce the most modern, environmentally friendly vessels that create value for RMC’s customers. Close-knit cooperation between competent shipyards and other companies in the industry is the foundation for the competitiveness and future of the Finnish maritime industry. It’s what creates our ability to become the future trailblazer of the industry internationally,” Heiskanen says.

RMC is the only fully Finnish-owned company in its size category, which means decisions will be made and jobs kept in Finland. RMC is specialised in the development, construction and maintenance of icebreakers, car and passenger ferries and defence and government vessels. The company is highly competent in arctic shipbuilding, which forms the basis of Finnish maritime expertise and competitiveness.

RMC was established in 2014, when STX Finland ceased operations in Rauma. The company has multiplied its turnover in recent years and its order book is now more than EUR 1 billion. The current CEO, Jyrki Heinimaa, PhD, has managed RMC since 2017. Under Heinimaa’s leadership, RMC has grown from a start-up to a world-class shipbuilding company, with strong expertise in both car and passenger ferries as well as government vessels. Now, says Heinimaa, it is time to pass on the leadership role.

“We have come a huge distance in a very short time. When I became CEO in 2017, our goal was to grow RMC into a significant competitor to other shipyards around the world, and we have succeeded in this. For example, in 2020, the company’s growth rate was over 400 per cent. When I began this journey, I remember thinking that five years would be a suitable time to spend at the helm of the same ship so to speak, and now, five years later, the time has come to head towards new challenges. I am very grateful to RMC, all my colleagues, network partners and customers for the opportunity to be involved in bringing back world-class car and passenger ferry construction and know-how to Rauma. However, now is the right time to step back and take part in strengthening the maritime industry network in other capacities,” says Heinimaa.

RMC’s Board of Directors has appointed Mika Laurilehto, M.Sc. (Eng.), as interim CEO. Laurilehto, who is also responsible for planning, joined RMC in 2020. Prior to that, he held management positions at MV Werften in Germany and as CEO of Deltamarin Oy in Finland from 2005–2017.

Simultaneously, the management of the Squadron 2020 project for the Finnish Navy has been renewed. Timo Suistio, RMC’s Executive Vice President, will retire in the autumn of 2022. Ret. Captain Timo Ståhlhammar has been appointed as the new Project Manager for the Squadron 2020 project. Ståhlhammar has worked at RMC since 2016 as the Project Manager for the combat systems utilised in the Squadron 2020 project. Prior to joining RMC, Stålhammar was Finland’s Defence Attaché in the United States. Until his retirement, Suistio will continue to support the Squadron 2020 project and sales projects as a Senior Advisor.

Domestic ownership and strong expertise in Arctic shipbuilding

RMC is the only wholly domestically-owned shipbuilding company in its class size, which enables both decision-making and employment to remain in Finland. RMC specialises in the development, construction and maintenance of icebreakers, car and passenger ferries, and vessels required by military and government agencies. The company also has industry-leading expertise in Arctic shipbuilding, on which the expertise and competitiveness of the Finnish maritime industry rely heavily on.

RMC’s strategy is based on a networked operating model. The company employs more than 200 shipbuilding experts who head collaborations with dozens of partner companies responsible for project implementation.

Currently under construction at RMC is a new car and passenger ferry for Estonian shipping company Tallink. In addition, the construction of two car and passenger ferries ordered by Spirit of Tasmania for the route between Australia and Tasmania recently began at Rauma Shipyard.

The company is also starting construction work on the corvettes for the Finnish Navy’s Squadron 2020 project. To this end, a EUR 26 million multi-purpose dock hall is currently being built at Rauma Shipyard, enabling the ships to be both built indoors and separate from other ships. The hall also represents a significant investment in terms of future projects.

“Now is a good time to look at the new phase of the company with fresh eyes. RMC has claimed its place as a leading Finnish shipyard among the world’s shipyards. We would like to thank Jyrki Heinimaa for his significant contribution to growing RMC. Thanks to him, the order book extends to the second half of the decade,” states Mikko Niini, Chairman of the Board of RMC.

The start of production of a passenger and vehicle ferry was celebrated today at Rauma shipyard. The construction of the Spirit of Tasmania IV, set to operate between mainland Australia and Tasmania, began with a traditional steel cutting ceremony. Even though the future route and the shipyard responsible for the construction are located on the opposite sides of the globe, trust and cooperation have been built over a long period of time.

“Although the actual construction of the first ferry started today, RMC and Spirit of Tasmania already have a long history. The pandemic, among other things, disrupted our plans, but the agreement for the vessels was re-signed in 2021. We are particularly glad that our joint journey, which has lasted more than a decade, finally reached this important milestone. Therefore, I would like to thank Spirit of Tasmania for trusting our local expertise in shipbuilding,” says Jyrki Heinimaa, CEO and president of RMC.

The twin Spirit of Tasmania vessels will be constructed in Rauma. When finished, they will be the southernmost vessels to operate with LNG. In addition, the vessels will have a dual fuel solution, which will allow them to use other, alternative fuels, if needed.

Spirit of Tasmania (TT-Line Company), the purchaser of the vessels, is a significant player in maritime transport between mainland Australia and Tasmania. Currently, the Spirit of Tasmania-named vessels carry around 450,000 passengers each year. The new vessels will operate an extremely challenging route across the Bass Strait between Geelong, Victoria, and Devonport, Tasmania. The ferries have been specially designed to undertake this specific route.

The vessels will hold 1,800 passengers each and their gross tonnage will be approximately 48,000 metric tons. The new vessels will replace similarly Finnish-built sister ships from the 1990s. The first vessel will be finished in late 2023 and the second in late 2024.

Bernard Dwyer, CEO and Managing Director of Spirit of Tasmania says “This is a significant moment for Tasmania and for the Tasmanian economy. When completed, the vessel’s arrival in late 2023 will mark the start of a new era for passenger travel and freight transport across Bass Strait,” he said.

“While the new ships will be a similar design to the current Spirit of Tasmania vessels, they will feature substantially larger capacity for passengers, passenger vehicles and freight.”

For the city of Rauma and the surrounding region, the design and construction of the vessels will create a total of around 3,500 person-years’ worth of employment. The vessels are being built while the shipyard also finalises a new car and passenger ferry for Tallink and builds new multipurpose corvettes for the Finnish Defence Forces’ Squadron 2020 project.