seatec - Finnish marine technology review 2/2015 | Page 34

quite significant from Joptek’s standpoint. The company already has a contract for similar elements for the sister ship ’Oasis 4’. ”Along with this deal, Joptek is now one of the largest subcontractors for the St. Nazaire shipyard. For each ship, the value of the contract is in the order several million euros. This is by far the largest ever contract with a shipyard in Joptek’s history,” she recounts. ”Now in May 2015, the installation of elements for the first ship is already in the final stages.” Joptek Oy had already supplied interior and exterior elements for various large cruise ships that were built in Turku shipyard in Finland. After tough negotiations that lasted six months, STX France’s contract was awarded to the company. The elements were transported by trucks to St. Nazaire. At the shipyard, they were assembled and pre-installed by Joptek’s local partner Eiffel Industries. ”Finnish marine subcontractors should perhaps be more active in their attempts to gain headway in export markets. In the case of France, it helps when you can communicate fluently in the French language,” Hämäläinen suggests. ”Certainly you should be competitive and expect to encounter severe competition and lots of hard work.” She asserts that Joptek Oy will definitely take part in export marine projects even in the future. DECK COATING FROM CERTIFIED MATERIALS Floor coatings for part of the ship’s floor and deck surfaces are supplied by Cancotronic Oy. The Finnish company has had long-standing cooperation with the wellknown German coating manufacturer G. Theodor Freese GmbH & Co KG. ”Cancotronic Oy has previously supplied coating materials to ’Viking Grace’ and other cruise ships built by shipyards in Finland, including ’Mein Schiff 3’ and ’Mein Schiff 4’ ordered by TUI Cruises. In the case of these ships, we were responsible for approximately 40 percent of the 32 seatec 2/2015