Finland’s Government Acquires Majority Stake of Aker Arctic

An illustration of the Baltika, a new icebreaking emergency response and recovery vessel designed by Aker Arctic and currently under construction in Finland. Image (c) Arctech Helsinki Shipyard

With the threat of Aker Arctic leaving Finland to pursue more profitable pastures, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, an investment arm of Finland’s government announced today that it has acquired a 66.4 percent stake of Aker Arctic Technology Oy, the world’s leading engineering firm specializing in the design of icebreaking ships.

Should the company move out of Finland in the future, such a move would be “a serious setback for the entire Finnish Arctic marine industry’s future development,” commented Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy.  The Finnish government notes that they have been actively “studying the possibilities for securing the company’s know-how of survival and further development in Finland.”

Arctic shipping is expected to increase substantially in the coming years and Aker Arctic is very much standing on the leading edge of the technology needed to do so safely.

Most recently, Aker Arctic has pioneered the world’s first so-called oblique icebreaker concept, which is currently under construction Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy, as well as involved in the design of new icebreakers for China, Finland, and Canada.

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