ALFONS HÅKANS MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF TUGS PÄR-HENRIK SJÖSTRÖM WITH THE TASK FORCE
CONTENT INTRODUCTION: THE HÅKANS SPIRIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 RESCUE SOCIETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 OFFSHORE WIND FARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 HEAVY TRANSPORTS IN THE ARCHIPELAGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 IT ALL STARTED WITH A SAWMILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 JAKKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 THE FIRST SALVAGE OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 MOBY DICK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 BANKRUPTCY AND A NEW START . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 FANNY & POLREC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A COMPANY OF HIS OWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 SEA COURIER OY LTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 DEMANDING JOBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ICEBREAKERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 FROM STEAM TO DIESEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 MODERN ASD TUGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 A NEW HOME PORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 TWO NEW TUNDRA 3200-TUGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 THE NEXT GENERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SUFFICIENT CAPACITY ON ALL MARKETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 22 67 HEAVY TRANSPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 LAND ORGANISATION TODAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 EXPANDING THE FLEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE FOURTH GENERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 25 HARD TIMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ECONOMY OF SCALE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 RUISSALO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 FURTHER EXPANSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 HISTORY AND MODERNITY MEET IN RUISSALO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 PUSHER SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 WINDS OF CHANGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 EXCEPTIONAL OPERATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 FROM A BOATYARD TO AN EVENT LAUNCHING PAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 NEWBUILDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 STEEPED IN TRADITION AND NAUTICAL HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOTAL LOSSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 PAYING TRIBUTE TO GUSTAF TENLÉN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 EXPANSION TO ESTONIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 THE TURKU BOATYARD – A SUCCESS OF ITS TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 FAST GROWTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 CLASSIC YACHTS AND YACHTING AS A PART OF BOATYARD LIFE . 94 FLEET RENEWAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 MAINTAINING CLASSIC YACHTS REQUIRES COMMITMENT . . . . . . . . 100 THE ACQUISITION OF PKL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 YOUTH SAILING PROGRAM & AIRISTO CLASSIC REGATTA . . . . . . . . 108 CONSOLIDATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 FC INTER TURKU – THE STORY IN BRIEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 JUNIOR ACTIVITIES IN ALL AGE GROUPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INTERACTION SUPPORTING THE YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 87 LARGE FLEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 ALFONS HÅKANS MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF TUGS 52 AMORELLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 WRITTEN BY PÄR-HENRIK SJÖSTRÖM, PIRKKA LEINO (78–105) , EERO LEHTINEN (106–111) BALTIC PILOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 GRAPHIC DESIGN JUHA LÖKSTRÖM ENTERING THE REPAIR BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF TUGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 EDITED BY EERO LEHTINEN, PIRKKA LEINO & PÄR-HENRIK SJÖSTRÖM PROOFREADING MARISE LEHTO AND LAURA KINNUNEN PUBLISHER ALFONS HÅKANS AS ISBN 978-952-94-5082-4 PROPAINO, TALLINN, 2021 Photo credit: Unless photographer is mentioned the photos are from Alfons Håkans’ archive. 7
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Stefan Håkans and Joakim Håkans THE HÅKANS SPIRIT The history of Alfons Håkans is also partly a history of a family. My grandfather Alfons and my grandmother Ida both had important roles in the company since its beginning in 1945. Alfons was the manager, but also the captain of the tugs. Until the early 1960s he was also a diver. Both Alfons and Ida were hard working entrepreneurs. On many occasions Ida also worked on board as a cook. Normally she handled invoicing and bookkeeping as well as the personnel and salaries. Alfons and Ida built a company with a strong reputation as a reliable business partner. Their life work served as an excellent platform for expansion under the leadership of my father Stefan at the end of the 1970s. In the 1980s a good foundation for the future was laid by dedicated young personnel, more specifically by Matti Mannonen on the masters’ side and by Reino Malmivaara on the engineers’ side. Enthusiasm and innovation made us the leading company with an excellent team working ability. The strength of our company has always been the so-called Håkans spirit, which means “give and take” type of flexibility, which is a must in our kind of business. This spirit still exists and is the most important asset of our company today. Since the previous history was published in 2015, much has happened within our company. Back then we were in the middle of expanding into Estonia and Latvia, which has boosted our harbour towing business. This strategic decision turned out to fulfil our expectations and secured the long term existence of our company on a changing market where the competition has become fiercer and the companies larger. The combined forces and know-how of two outstanding towage companies, PKL and Alfons Håkans, have resulted in a large and strong operator on the market, with resources to offer even better services to our customers in a cost-effective way. Without the expansion to our southern neighbouring countries our possibilities to develop as a company would have been much more limited. After the geographical expansion of our core activities we have further focused on building a versatile and effective fleet of tugs, responding to all demands of the market today where the ship sizes tend to grow bigger and bigger. The mix of tugs also reflects the special conditions in the northern Baltic Sea, including the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. We have strengthened our harbour icebreaking capacity by acquiring strong conventional tugs with icebreaking capability. We have also modernised and developed our fleet of ASD tugs, which is the most efficient alternative in open water harbour towage. Our two state-of-the-art newbuildings Selene and Helios are the pride of our fleet, heavy duty ASD tugs specially designed for our challenging conditions with operations in both ice and open water. Still, our most important key to success is people. We have a loyal and dedicated, highly skilled staff of employees. I strongly believe that people are the most important asset of any company, and especially for a towage company where new challenges arise every day. We have quality crews on all the vessels, but also highly skilled experts in the workshops and in the offices, all of whom have made our success possible. I am extremely proud of our skilled co-workers in three different countries, it is you that make everything work! This is what I call the Håkans spirit. 1 August 2021 Joakim Håkans 8 9
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 ALFONS HÅKANS 1945–2021 The first large salvage operation led by Alfons Håkans was to refloat the grounded Greek cargo steamer Diamantis 1929–30. However, the operation became an expensive experience for the young entrepreneur. A studio portrait of Alfons Håkans, taken in the early 1970s. He who founded the Alfons Håkans company in 1945, and remained active in the company until his death 1980. 10 At the end of the 19th century, industrialisation already had a strong foothold in Finland. Traditional, small-scale local forestry had turned into a national, fast growing industry. Production plants were established on locations where plenty of raw wood was available and the products could be rationally shipped to the expanding export markets. In those days the main transport route was by water. After being cut, the logs were dumped into the nearest river and floated along the river systems to the sawmills and paper mills. The production plants were usually situated at the mouth of the river, where they could be reached mainly by barges or coastal tonnage. If they could not be reached by seagoing vessels, it was quite common that cargo was towed on barges to larger vessels in the nearest seaport or at anchor on the roads. This is how the history of one of the leading towing companies in the Baltic Sea region started at that time. 11
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 IT ALL STARTED WITH A SAWMILL Petsmo Såg was founded by Johannes Håkans in the village of Kvevlax, some 20 km north of Vasa. The entrepreneur and shipowner Alfons Håkans (1909–1980) in his working overall in 1929. He was the founder of the Alfons Håkans salvage and towing company. 12 Some 20 km north east of the town of Vaasa (Vasa in Swedish) is Kvevlax, nowadays a part of the municipality of Korsholm, but in the 1890s it was a parish of its own. One of the villages was Petsmo, situated by the estuary of a small river. There, in autumn 1896, a farmer named Abraham Håkans and his son Johannes together with their business companion Johan Sand from the adjacent village Västerhankmo established a steam-powered sawmill. Called Petsmo ångsåg, the sawmill produced mainly sawn wood for the house-building needs on the local market. This story could have ended there, because in March 1897 the sawmill burnt down due to arson. The sawmill was underinsured and the fire caused a great financial loss for the owners. At the age of 21, Johannes sold all his property, including what was left of the mill, and emigrated to the United States. He returned a few years later with enough money in his pocket to purchase back his former sawmill in 1905 together with Johan Sand. While he was abroad, it had been rebuilt and the activities had expanded. The business grew further and in 1910 Petsmo såg was reorganised into a limited company. In June 1913 the plant burnt to the ground once again and caused losses to the owners due to underinsurance. However, the accident had some positive effects too. The sawmill was rebuilt and from the ashes rose a modern and larger plant. That was also the year when the company bought their first steam tugs Leo and Tor for handling rafts of timber and roundwood. Obviously more towing capacity was needed, because only a few years later the somewhat larger tug Hurtig (means “brisk” in Swedish) was bought. Hurtig was replaced already in 1920 when the company took delivery of two new buildings from the shipyard in Varkaus. The tugs were named Kraft (“power”) and Hurtig. Kraft was sold almost immediately to Sweden – probably at a good price – and the owner took delivery of a larger tug with the same name from the same shipyard in 1921. The company also had a fleet of barges for shipping sawn timber. 13
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 THE FIRST SALVAGE OPERATION By then there had been some changes in the ownership of the company, but Johannes Håkans remained the main owner and in 1924 he became the sole owner of the sawmill. Johannes’ son Alfons also became engaged in the family business in the 1920s. The end of this decade did not turn out to be very lucky for the company. In 1928 there was a devastating fire at the sawmill, followed by the worldwide depression 1929– 1932, ruining the export market. Still, the end of this decade also included some events which had a major impact on the future of Alfons Håkans. In autumn 1929 a smaller vessel ran aground at Bergö off Vasa. The tug Hurtig was employed for the salvage and Alfons Håkans participated in the successful operation. Alfons Håkans saw business potential in this kind of operations and even bought a diving suit. In addition to the salvage of some smuggling boats, the first real challenge in this field came with the grounding of the Greek 10,000 DWT cargo steamer Diamantis at Norrskär by the fairway to the port of Vasa in autumn 1929. The insurance company put the grounded steamer for sale and Alfons persuaded his father to buy it. He was determined to make a small fortune out of it. Johannes finally agreed, but the first Diamantis remained on the ground throughout the winter. Diamantis on the seabed off Vasa. THE WHOLE OPERATION HAD BECOME REALLY EXPENSIVE FOR HÅKANS, BUT ALFONS WAS NOT DISHEARTENED. Diamantis aground at Norrskär. 14 attempts to get Diamantis off the ground failed. She remained on the site throughout the winter and the salvage work commenced the following summer. Alfons learnt the hard way that a lot of know-how as well as experienced workforce is of utmost importance in such operations. The salvage became drawn out, but still Alfons managed to get the vessel afloat and in tow after several months of work. His intention was to let the steamer sink in shallow water on a muddy seabed near the port of Vasa and begin the repairs there. But luck was not with him. Under her keel there were some large rocks on the seabed, causing serious damages. Now the operation was becoming extremely expensive. When the vessel finally was afloat, she sank again – this time almost immediately. Not long after Diamantis was broken up. The whole operation had become a costly adventure for Alfons Håkans and especially for his father. However, Alfons was not disheartened. He had gained a lot of valuable experience and he decided to return to the towing and salvage business as soon as possible. HE DECIDED TO RETURN TO THE TOWING AND SALVAGE BUSINESS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 15
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 BANKRUPTCY AND A NEW START According to information in the Finnish timber and paper calendar 1930, the board of directors of Petsmo såg consisted of Johannes Håkans as chairman and his wife Maria Sofia and son Alfons as members. Johannes was managing director of the company, while Alfons was in charge of the forestry department at the office. The annual output of the sawmill was 600 stds, of which a third was exported. In addition to that some 3,000 Engl. cub. fathoms of pitprops and pulpwood was shipped out. It goes without saying that Petsmo såg was an important employer in the village. The early 1930s was a disastrous time for sawmill owners. The depression caused a dramatic decrease in the demand of sawn wood both on the domestic and the international market. Johannes Håkans lost the sawmill and his company was liquidated. In January 1932 the plant was put for sale by Nordiska Föreningsbanken, including two tugs and three barges. Finally, in 1936 the company Wiik & Höglund (today KVH Group) acquired the bankruptcy estate from the bank. Wiik & Höglund’s co-founder Emil Höglund knew Alfons Håkans and he appointed Alfons factory manager, ”disponent”, for the sawmillI. ´This was obviously a rational decision as the enterprising, 29 years old Alfons knew the business and had gained extensive experience in the operations when the sawmill was owned by his father. With the difficulties now behind them, the production increased steadily. This development even lasted throughout World War II. Simultaneously, Alfons Håkans carried out several smaller salvage jobs. 16 A COMPANY OF HIS OWN Alfons and Ida Håkans. Men at work during an early Johannes Håkans. salvage operation. After the war, in 1945, Alfons Håkans was ready for establish a shipping company of his own. The company carried his own name and its first acquisition was the small tug Fakir in 1946. His main business idea was to buy and sell roundwood using his old contacts. The timber was bought from smaller forest owners along the coast and in the archipelago. He usually sold the logs on to sawmills. The remaining parts of the trunks he sold via his agents as pit props or pulpwood for export. The pit props were collected in bundles in a couple of natural harbours, carefully chosen by Alfons. There the wood was loaded into cargo vessels using their booms and winches. One of Alfons Håkans’ agents was a company called Thomés Skogsbyrå, which later became Thomesto. Sweden was an important market for Alfons Håkans. Roundwood was sold for example to the large mills in Holmsund in the Umeå region. The wood was towed across the Kvarken, where the bundled ”grimmor” were collected into large rafts. In those days this was a common way to ship timber in the coastal waters and lakes. Fakir was the second vessel of the family to get this name. She was said to be a real “fakir of a vessel”. At the end of the war she had been equipped with a Wickström engine, using gasogene as fuel. This machinery included a small gasogene plant – such aggregates were also installed on cars during the war years when there was no gasoline available – and remained in the vessel until 1957, when replaced by a Volvo diesel engine. 17
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 DEMANDING JOBS The first larger salvage operation for the new company was the Dutch 188-GRT coaster Fakir, which in November 1952 had run aground at Storkallan. This was not an easy task. No other salvage company had been willing to take on the job, because the wreck was regarded to be in too shallow water. Alfons Håkans accepted the challenge, and he and his crew started by discharging the cargo. They managed to salvage half of the cargo before the winter came. The work continued in the spring 1953. There were numerous cracks and holes in the hull and Alfons Håkans himself did all the diving work. After a month Fakir was afloat and towed to Wärtsilä’s yard at Smulterö. However, the towing was carried out by Skogen’s tug Jarl. Håkans’ own Fakir was on charter to the city of Tornio. Alfons Håkans then sold the coaster to the Nordströms in Vålax, Borgå. The company Alfons Håkans was involved in several other demanding salvage operations during the 1950s, among these Gustaf Erikson’s dry cargo vessel Bergö at Hailuoto in 1954 and Henry Nielsen’s tanker Panu at Strömmingsbådan in 1959. By 1957 Alfons Håkans salvaged his twentieth vessel, the steamer Meri, at Rödkallen. Fakir was the first tug bought by Alfons Håkans. Industrial safety was not as developed in the 1950’s as it is nowadays. From the salvage of Bergö. In 1956 the Swedish cargo steamer Vestria got stuck in drifting ice in the Quark and ran aground. The cargo was salvaged by Alfons Håkans. Alfons Håkans and his team during the salvage of the cargo vessel Bergö 1954–1955. 18 19
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Fart in her new home port Turku (Åbo) in 1960. Note that the vessel was still registered in Vasa (Vaasa) when this picture was taken. A NEW HOME PORT FROM STEAM TO DIESEL The steam tug Fart (the Swedish word for “speed”) was purchased from the town of Vaasa in 1954, after she had sunk at the quay by the local power station. Fart was salvaged and repaired and served the company as a harbour tug in Vasa. However, the aged tug needed an extensive refit and in 1960 almost all the technical equipment was renewed. The whole superstructure was replaced and the steam engine was replaced by four Scania-diesel engines. When redelivered, she became the first tug in the fleet to appear with Alfons Håkans’ well-known red and blue funnel. The story behind the colours of the funnel is strongly connected to the engine manufacturer Scania. Scan Auto in Finland was the Finnish sales agent for Scania’s diesel engines, and due to an agreement with the company the shipowner agreed on painting the funnel in the same shade of red as was used on most of the Scania Vabis-trucks. To get a maritime touch, Alfons Håkans added the blue colour. Until then there had not been any real funnel mark on Alfons Håkans’ tugs. The Alfons Håkans logotype, also seen on the house flag, was taken into use much later. The idea came from Alfons’ son Stefan. After the salvage of Diamantis, Alfons Håkans had received a gold watch with his initials engraved. The goldsmith had formed the letters as a decorative emblem, which acted as model for the logotype drawn by the graphic designer Pirkka Eloranta in the 1970s. 20 FART BECAME THE FIRST TUG IN THE FLEET TO APPEAR WITH ALFONS HÅKANS’ WELLKNOWN RED AND BLUE FUNNEL. The steam tug Fart got the whole completely new superstructure and the steam engine was replaced by four Scania-diesel engines. With the improvements, she became the first tug with a well-known red and blue funnel. The tanker Panu ran aground in 1959 off Rönnskär and was salvaged by Alfons Håkans. However, on 30 September she sunk while on tow by Fakir. A year later she was raised and broken up at Wärtsilä in Vaasa. With the redelivery of Fart the company entered a new era. The conversion was a huge investment and the market in Vaasa became too small for the entrepreneur, leaving no possibilities for expansion. Alfons and Ida Håkans decided to move with their company to Turku (Åbo), which had one of Finland’s busiest ports and also several shipyards. Alfons Håkans had excellent contacts to shipbrokers such as Wikeström & Krogius and Lindblom & Petersen. This made it easier for him to enter the market and in a short time he had established a valuable network. Alfons Håkans instantly became successful in the new market. The powerful and reliable Fart had plenty of work both in the port and at the shipyards. For years Fart was the only tug in Alfons Håkans’ fleet. Naturally, the operations were – to a great extent – connected to the person Alfons Håkans. He had originally educated himself within forestry, but he also had a master’s certificate. The shipowner acted as the master of the tug, while his wife Ida took care of the administration. The whole business was run from their home in Turku. Alfons Håkans was always available at short notice. When being contacted at his home for harbour towage, he was often asked if he could come immediately. In an interview with a local newspaper he said that his personal record was 20 minutes from leaving his home until he arrived with Fart to the vessel waiting for towage. 21
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 THE NEXT GENERATION In 1971 Alfons Håkans expanded by buying the tug Simson. A complete refit of this tug became more expensive than expected and this was also taxing on the aging owner’s health. Alfons Håkans died in 1980. Until his death he had been actively involved in running the company. At that time Alfons’ and Ida’s son Stefan had already been leading the company for several years. After graduating from business school Stefan Håkans had created a career as management consultant at the large consulting company Mec-Rastor in Helsinki, but in 1974 he entered the family company. The business was familiar, as he had been working in the company before, during his leave from school. ”We had nothing against moving to Turku but they could not afford to pay any salary, so my mother Ida said that they could instead arrange a flat for the family”, Stefan Håkan says. The solution was that Alfons Håkans paid the rent for the apartment but during the first two years Stefan work part time for Turku Student Village Foundation. His main task at Alfons Håkans was initially marketing and networking to expand the business. Alfons took care of the operations and Ida was in charge of invoicing and the payroll. The land based organisation was slim to say the least. The master of the tug brought the forms with the working hours for the crew. Some of the customers preferred to pay their bills in cash. Once a week Stefan Håkans used to collect the payment and bring the money to Ida. 22 A hull section being towed by the company’s new tug Simson. Stefan Håkans in 1976. THE NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR HANDED OVER THE DAILY OPERATIONS ONBOARD THE VESSELS TO PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIELD. When Stefan Håkans became managing director of the company they moved into an office of its own in the Bore building on Linnankatu (Slottsgatan). Unlike his father, Stefan did not work on board the vessels. With him at the helm, the profile changed radically. Instead of being strongly related to one person, the company now became more of a shipping company, led by a person with both theoretical and practical knowledge about how the market mechanisms work. The new managing director handed over the daily operations onboard the vessels to professionals in the field. Stefan Håkans started by introducing a new business idea for the tug Simson. Instead of being employed in harbour towing, the refitted tug entered the heavy transports business. After an agreement with Navire’s owner Rainer Sjöström, Simson started towing his deck barge Atlas. This included both bulk shipments and transports of heavy steel sections for Navire’s yard in Naantali. Simson had a short career with Alfons Håkans. In October 1978 Atlas came loose in heavy weather off Utö. When the crew tried to recover the barge, Simson touched ground and started taking in water. Consequently, the tug sunk at 35 m depth but thankfully her crew was rescued. 23
P-H SJÖSTRÖM P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 HEAVY TRANSPORTS Fortunately Simson was insured for its full value and the compensation from the insurance company formed the down payment for the powerful tug Kraft. The new tug was as good as new and the most powerful in the Finnish merchant fleet. Kraft had been employed in heavy transports under the name Kone by her former owner, the crane manufacturing company Kone. After just three years of service the Kone corporation decided to outsource the transports of their cranes and Stefan Håkans made an agreement with them about taking care of these shipments. Now Alfons Håkans had a real high-sea tug for barge transports in the whole Baltic Sea area. The strongest growth within the company was indeed recorded for barge transports. When Alfons Håkans entered this type of bulk- and heavy transports they were among the pioneers within this field on the Baltic Sea. Alfons Håkans also continued their co-operation with Navire and was now towing their deck barge Pontus. According to Stefan Håkans, the acquisition of the powerful, sea going tug Kraft became a turning point for the company. ”This was an excellent deal. It gave the company creditability, enabling us to do jobs that no other tug company were able to. We were able to build a quality profile, not least regarding project shipments”, stated Stefan Håkans. 24 Fart towing a barge with a steel structure in Turku on 13 September EXPANDING THE FLEET 1985. The barge Juno fully loaded with timber under tow by Kraft. Fart and Iso-Pukki towing the Soviet dry cargo vessel Irkutskles to Wärtsilä repair yard in Turku on 11 August 1989. STEFAN PURCHASED TUGS WHICH WERE SUITABLE NOT ONLY FOR HARBOUR TOWING, BUT ALSO FOR ICEBREAKING AND HIGH-SEA TOWING AND SALVAGE. When in charge of the family company, Stefan Håkans saw his main task as employing the vessels in the fleet. If he managed to get more jobs than the current fleet could handle, then he would buy more vessels. That was also the case. There was a good supply of second-hand tugs on the market as the need for harbour towage decreased in many ports due to new vessel types and a restructuring of shipping. More and more cargo was shipped on modern ro-ro vessels or ferries, mostly managing by themselves due to bow thrusters and powerful engines. On Stefan Håkans’ initiative, the company acquired several tugs at a fair price – many of them quite old, but all in excellent condition. Since he foresaw the development of a decreasing demand for conventional harbour tug services, he had a clear strategy: he purchased tugs which were suitable not only for harbour towing, but also for icebreaking and high-sea towing and salvage. 25
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 HARD TIMES 26 Fart and Hurtig assisting the Neptun after a cold and stormy freezer fish carrier Wilhelm Pieck of voyage on the northern Baltic Sea the Soviet fishing fleet on 14 July in February 2001. 1982 after a refit at Wärtsilä repair yard in Turku. The funnels of Iso-Pukki being repainted in Alfons Håkans’ colours Fart and Iso-Pukki assisting the in Turku on 9 April 1985. ro-ro vessel Baltic Eagle in the port P-H SJÖSTRÖM of Turku on 23 March 1986. P-H SJÖSTRÖM In 1988 there were only two large tug owners left in Finland: Alfons Håkans and Hangon Hinaus. Alfons Håkans’ fleet had grown to six vessels and the operations included harbour towing and icebreaking, heavy- and bulk transports with deck barges as well as salvage. Kraft was still most powerful tug in the fleet and it was now employed in towing the Swedish Neptun company’s barges Hera and Juno. After the barges were sold to the Soviet Union, Kraft was chartered as the first Western tug to continue with the towing. In the 1980’s tugs Hurtig, Fram and Triton were also more or less employed in towing barges in the Baltic Sea area for Finnlines. The harbour tug/icebreaker Iso-Pukki of the port of Turku had also been added to Alfons Håkans’ fleet. The port did not want to operate Iso-Pukki anymore and therefore the municipality outsourced its tugboat activities to the private owned sector. Later this same phenomena occurred in Kotka, Helsinki, Rauma and Pori where Alfons Håkans played a major role as a provider of towage and harbour icebreaking services. Iso-Pukki was handed over to Alfons Håkans in 1985 and the deal included a ten-year-plan of payment of 200,000 Finnish marks a year. During this time Alfons Håkans agreed to annually do a maximum of 150 hours of icebreaking for free. In the 1980s the market for harbour towage was deteriorating fast. In the good old days there was an average of four to six assignments a day in the Turku area, but now that number represented the average of a whole week. The crisis within shipping had now indirectly reached the tug owners too. The number of calls in the ports decreased due to growing vessel sizes. To save operating costs, new vessels were equipped for better maneuverability in ports. The number of calls with large bulk carriers also decreased in Turku and Naantali. Stefan Håkans realised that some drastic decisions had to be made – and they had to be made very soon. 27
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 ECONOMY OF SCALE 28 From the naming ceremony of the company’s first newbuilding, the barge Farao in 1976: In the foreground Joakim Håkans, from left to right Ida Håkans, Stefan Håkans and Matti Kankare representing the builder. Soon after the acquisition of Hangon Hinaus: The tugs Torvik and Waija are still in their old colours except for their funnels. THERE WERE OF COURSE SOME PROBLEMS IN MERGING TWO DIFFERENT COMPANY CULTURES, BUT IN GENERAL ALL WENT QUITE SMOOTHLY. OVERNIGHT THE FLEET AND NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES MORE THAN DOUBLED. K BRZOZA Stefan Håkans chose to invest instead of cut. At the same time, as a part of their restructuring, the large shipping company Effoa had put its subsidiary Hangon Hinaus for sale. Hangon Hinaus (the company name means “Hanko Towing”) was the main business rival of Alfons Håkans and now Stefan Håkans had spotted a solution, which would expose the benefits of economy of scale. He bought the company and all its tugboats. The deal included 13 tugs, including the former harbour icebreaker Teuvo of the city of Helsinki and Neste’s large tug Into. Hangon Hinaus had started as a family-owned company, founded by the Saarinen family. The company was acquired by Effoa in 1981. When Alfons Håkans took over, several of the family members of the original owner were still with the company and they now became employees of Alfons Håkans. A key role in enabling the deal was held by Rolf Sundström, CEO of Finnlines, but also a member of the board of Alfons Håkans. In the late 1980s Alfons Håkans had established a fruitful cooperation with Finnlines involving the barge operations. When Effoa put their tug company Hangon Hinaus for sale, Rolf Sundström suggested that Alfons Håkans would buy the company. On the same occasion Henrik Österberg from Effoa became a member of the board of Alfons Håkans. ”It was an easy decision despite the fact that it was a huge investment,” Stefan Håkans recalls. Despite the expansion the organisation of Alfons Håkans remained slimmed. The masters were given more customer responsibility while the engineers were in charge of the maintenance of their vessel. There were of course some problems in merging two different company cultures, but in general all went quite smoothly. Overnight the fleet and number of employees more than doubled. Hangon Hinaus was incorporated into Alfons Håkans on 1 December 1988, but before that the negotiations had continued all year. Not only did Alfons Håkans increase its number of employees and its fleet, the company also expanded its area of operations. Hangon Hinaus had been active in many important ports as Helsinki (Helsingfors), Hanko (Hangö), Pori (Björneborg) and Rauma. Alfons Håkans also adapted many usable ideas from how Hangon Hinaus handled their operations. Perhaps the most interesting was the manning of the tugs. Spread over a wide geographic area with operations in several ports, the company had developed a system, where tugs based in ports with low regular workload were manned by mobile teams only during the towing operations. It proved to be much cheaper to transport the crew by car to the port and activate the tug, instead of keeping the tug manned at all times. This system enabled full operational strength with a rather small number of employees. Only a few, strategically based tugs had constant manning in Alfons Håkans’ fleet. 29
P-H SJÖSTRÖM P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 The newly acquired Protector arriving at Parainen (Pargas) with the barge Para-Charlie and a cargo of limestone on 21 June 1989. Simson and the cruise vessel Europa in the port of Turku in the 1970s. FURTHER EXPANSION 30 Fart towing a Rauma-Repola barge with the bow section for the car- and passenger ferry Kalypso to Wärtsilä Marine Turku shipyard on 23 June 1989. Silja Serenade leaves the Turku shipyard for sea trials on 6 September 1990, flanked by the tugs Iso-Pukki, Jason and Porin Karhu. P-H SJÖSTRÖM In 1988 other important deals were also closed. An additional four tugs were bought after the bankruptcy of the tug owner Harri Patanen in Helsinki. This was a strategic decision, as the company had been competing with Effoa for harbour towing in Helsinki. In this way Alfons Håkans secured that the tugs would not end up as competitors. In the same year, Alfons Håkans established the subsidiary Finntugs Ltd, based in Kotka, with A. Murto and the towns of Kotka and Hamina. During the 1980s many more ports than Turku had sold their tugs and outsourced their harbour icebreaking services. When entering the 1990s there were hardly any tugs left in Finland with municipal owners. Despite a decreasing need for harbour towing, this opened up possibilities for better profitability in combination with rationalising and cost cutting. With a large fleet, spanning along a considerable part of Finland’s coast, Alfons Håkans was now in a much more favourable position to continue its operations. The company had expanded threefold in a year. Furthermore, in 1988 Alfons Håkans was reorganised into a limited company Alfons Håkans Oy Ab. 31
P-H SJÖSTRÖM P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 After the bankruptcy of Harri Patanen, two of his former employees saw an opportunity on the market and bought the tugs Harald and Hamlet from Sweden and formed the company S&H Satamahinaus Ltd. They continued their operations in Helsinki until 1991, when Alfons Håkans Oy Ab purchased the company and its tugs. In the early 1990s, Alfons Håkans entered new business areas to compensate for the decreasing harbour towing business. Without the other business areas within the company – bulk- and heavy transports and salvage – it would hardly have been possible to continue harbour towing and icebreaking with such a large fleet. Pusher-barge transport systems for raw materials had been introduced in the Baltic Sea, of which the most advanced was Rautaruukki’s “Finnpusku”-system. It included five deck barges and two pushers, all purpose built. The idea was to keep the pushers at sea virtually all the time – they would just swap barges in the port. Another advantage with pusher systems compared to tugs and conventional barges was that when coupled together, the pusher and the barge kept their ice class as one unit. When a conventional ice-classed tug was towing an ice-classed barge, the ice class was not valid for either of them. Stefan Håkans decided to develop the company’s bulk transport business further and a shipment contract was established with Rautaruukki. The tug Herakles was converted into a pusher and introduced in the “Finnpusku”- system. Herakles’ exterior was totally changed when she reentered service in 1991. She had a new bridge at the top of a high tower, reached by spiral stairs. When operated alone the officer on watch used the old bridge, but its location was too low when coupled to the barge with its high coaming. 32 Herakles after conversion to Hermes and Para-Uno in Turku pusher tug and the barge Kalla off archipelago, bound for Parainen on Turku on 24 July 1991. 27 June 1997. Hermes in Turku on 17 September 1998. She was converted to pusher tug in Uusikaupunki in 1992. AN ADVANTAGE WITH PUSHER SYSTEMS COMPARED TO TUGS AND CONVENTIONAL BARGES WAS THAT WHEN COUPLED TOGETHER, THE PUSHER AND THE BARGE KEPT THEIR ICE CLASS AS ONE UNIT. The smaller tug Hermes was also converted to a pusher, but she was employed in a system operated by Finnlines. Later another small pusher tug, Mercurius, was acquired and added to the same system. Together with conventional towing of deck barges, a considerable part of the fleet of large tugs was now employed in cargo traffic in the whole Baltic Sea area. Herakles was naturally mostly employed in carrying raw materials for the steel production of Rautaruukki. The smaller pushers were connected to the push-barges Para-Uno and Para-Duo and carried for example raw materials for the cement industry. Kraft was mostly employed in towing ESL Shipping’s barge Espa, carrying coal. For special projects, the company used their own or chartered deck barges. P-H SJÖSTRÖM PUSHER SYSTEM 33
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 EXCEPTIONAL OPERATIONS In the early 1990s Alfons Håkans Oy Ab was contracted for two exceptional salvaging operations. On December 27 1990 the pusher Finn and the barge Baltic had capsized off Hanko (Hangö) with the loss of eight lives. When the rescue teams arrived at the scene of the accident, the pusher and the barge were still connected upside down. In the demanding salvage operation the vessel was successfully parbuckled by a giant floating crane, chartered for this task. The wreck was towed to the building yard in Rauma for repairs, and both units re-entered service in 1991, now under the new names Steel and Botnia. Even more spectacular was the salvaging of the cruise vessel Sally Albatross off Porkkala, carried out in co-operation with Smit. While en route from Tallinn to Helsinki through the Porkkala channel, the vessel had touched ground at full speed on March 4 1994 and started taking in water. She was intentionally grounded to prevent sinking and passengers and crew were evacuated to several nearby vessels. The salvage operation was difficult and time-consuming, but after several weeks of hard work Alfons Håkans Oy Ab managed to tow the casualty to Helsinki’s Vuosaari dry dock for repairs. It has been said that the operation led to one of the largest salvage awards involving a commercial vessel. 34 Sally Albatross aground off Porkkala in March 1994. Parbuckling of the capsized pusher Finn and barge Baltic off Hanko (Hangö) in early 1991. Saronikos II aground off Kotka in 1989. The difficult but successful salvage of the container vessel Janra in February 2001. The extraordinary salvaging of the container vessel Janra was carried out under Joakim Håkans’ command. The vessel had collided with the lighthouse Tröskeln Västra on the Åland Sea on December 23, 2000 and capsized after the crew was evacuated. The vessel remained floating upside down, and when a towing line could finally be fastened, the casualty was moved to the more sheltered waters south of Åland. Now the preparations for the lifting operation could start. The originally chartered floating crane had to be replaced by a larger one, and finally, on February 16, 2001 the parbuckling commenced and Janra was rightened. She was towed to Turku and repaired temporarily before being towed further to her original building yard in Hamburg. There Janra was resurrected – after a few months she was back in service, looking as good as new. 35
JDC PLUG ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 TOTAL LOSSES Poseidon aground off Lill-Pellinge. NEWBUILDING Pegasos in Helsinki in November 2001. 36 The combined AHT and icebreaker Zeus during offshore duties on the North Sea. Zeus was employed with ice management at Greenland during P-H SJÖSTRÖM summer seasons 2010 and 2011. A-M TAKALO Alfons Håkans Oy Ab invested the payment from the Sally Alabtross’ salvage in the newbuilding Zeus. Designed to meet the specific demands of the owner, the order was placed at the Norwegian shipyard Simek in Flekkefjord in March 1995. and the vessel was handed over in December the same year. This medium-sized anchor-handling tug (AHT) is a true multipurpose vessel, also capable of ice breaking, salvaging, fire fighting and high seas towing. Much attention was paid to the icebreaking qualities and the hull form was primarily designed for icebreaking. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland developed the hull lines and VTT was also engaged as a consultant, providing expertise throughout the project. Designed for icebreaking in the archipelago and in coastal waters, the hull of Zeus, including propeller and rudder, is ice strengthened in the same way as on Finnish icebreakers. The engine output is about half that of the Fennica-class multipurpose icebreaker, the output per propeller is about the same. Icebreaking also formed an important part of the activities of Alfons Håkans during the winter in the 1990s. The harbour tugs were contracted for icebreaking in many ports. In Estonia Alfons Håkans Oy Ab employed its tug Protector as an icebreaker in the Bay of Pärnu for several years. As an icebreaker Protector was equipped with an external icebreaking bow, originally developed for tests on Lake Saimaa. In the late 1990’s Alfons Håkans Oy Ab purchased Suomen Merisukellus Ltd and their five tugs. One of the tugs in the Suomen Merisukellus-fleet was Pegasos. In Håkans’ colours she was based in Helsinki. On a routine harbourtowing mission on November 13, 2003, she was turned over by the container vessel MSC Hina and capsized within a minute. Sadly, one of the crew went down with the tug. Pegasos was later raised by the company, but declared a total loss. The vessel was broken up at Teijo in 2004. Another casualty, fortunately without loss of human life, occurred on March 2, 2004, when the pusher Herakles, coupled to the barge Bulk, had to be abandoned in extremely heavy weather off the Swedish Grundkallen lighthouse in the northern part of the Sea of Åland. The enormous waves literally buried the hull of the pusher when the barge was heaving violently. Still coupled together, the vessels drifted aground near the lighthouse during the night. When dawn came the following morning both had sunk. Divers later localised the wreck and found that both the tug and the barge had broken apart. While en route from Helsinki to Kotka the tug Poseidon drifted aground off LillPellinge, south east of Porvoo on 12 December 2006 after a blackout. Bad weather delayed the salvage and it was not until on 17 December that Poseidon could be pulled off the ground. The salvage operation was carried through by Alfons Håkans, using the 200 t floating crane Nosto-Pekka, which was chartered from Terramare. The hull of Poseidon was so badly damaged that the vessel had to be broken up at Teijo during winter 2007. 37
J SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 EXPANSION TO ESTONIA 38 Hermes and Calypso in the port of Paldiski on 25 September 2006. Presentation of Alfons Håkans’ fleet in Tallinn on 10 September Helios in Helsinki. 2004. Waija in Paldiski on 30 March Arvo Veskimets. 2006. J SJÖSTRÖM Since there were hardly any possibilities for larger expansion in Finland, Alfons Håkans Oy Ab started aiming at foreign markets during the first years of the new Millenium. Immediately after Estonia’s entrance into the EU in 2004, the company activated its local subsidiary Alfons Hakans OÜ in Estonia. The primary focus was on harbour towage and icebreaking, mainly in the busy ports of Muuga, Tallinn and Paldiski. ”We were looking for new business opportunities and found one in Estonia”, director Joakim Håkans explains. As there was not a sufficient number of suitable tugs in the current fleet available for deployment in Estonia, several vessels were added to the Alfons Håkans-fleet. The first vessel to be acquired especially for the Estonian activities was the Voith-Schneider propelled tractor tug Varnebank, which was bought from the Netherlands together with the sister vessel Kvintebank. Varnebank was renamed Pallas and got Estonian flag, while Kwintebank became the Finnish-flagged Helios. Helios mainly operated in Estonia and in 2010 was transferred to the Estonian register. In addition,t, a new, azimuthing stern-drive tug was acquired especially for the startup in Estonia. However, it was quite by coincidence that this tug found its way to the Alfons Håkans fleet. The Estonian tug company PKL had problems serving all ports and their customers were not pleased with the services offered, especially in the port of Paldiski. A new- building, intended for operations in the port of Paldiski, had therefore been ordered from Damen in the Netherlands. The tug was to be named Robert. Paldiski South Harbour is a part of AS Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn). The intention was that Port of Tallinn should operate Robert. While still under construction, the owner of the port decided that they would no longer operate any tugs so a public procurement for the operation of Robert was initiated. ”We heard about this and I contacted an old friend of mine, Arvo Veskimets, who had been employed by the Estonian Maritime Administration. I told him that we were interested in participating in the public tender and asked him to help us with the paper work”, Joakim Håkans says. PKL also participated in the bidding, but Alfons Håkans submitted the best bid. In summer 2004, when Robert was nearing completion at the shipyard, Alfons Håkans won the contract. The owner of the tug was Hansa Liising, but shortly thereafter it was bought by Alfons Håkans. The newbuilding was officially named Calypso in the port of Tallinn on 10 September 2004 by Kersti Veskimets. Her husband Arvo Veskimets had before that been appointed managing director of Alfons Hakans OÜ in Estonia. The operations in Estonia began in the second half of August 2004. After the delivery of Calypso four tugs were based in Estonia: Calypso, Pallas, Protector and Neptun. 39
S SAARI ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Akilles assisting the ro-pax ferry Translandia in the port of Tallinn on 9 August 2007. FAST GROWTH 40 Hermes, Calypso, Vega and the ferry Galaxy in the port of Tallinn on 28 October 2006. Pallas assisting the tanker Neverland Angel in the port of Muuga. Calypso off Tallinn. P-H SJÖSTRÖM When Alfons Hakans OÜ started its operations the competition for each job was extremely fierce on the Estonian market. The solution was to enter long-term agreements with key operators and shipping companies. Alfons Hakans OÜ served for example the large liner operators MSC and Maersk. There were indeed many challenges, but Joakim Håkans still thinks that it turned out to be easier than expected to establish the operations in Estonia. From the very start the company employed people from Estonia, who knew the market and the local conditions, a strategy which turned out to be a successful one. In a remarkably short time Alfons Hakans OÜ acquired a market share of some 30 per cent in Estonia. The main and only competitor PKL held the remaining 70 per cent of the market. During the following years the market shares did not change in any significant extent due to the earlier mentioned long term contracts with the customers. In no more than a year the activities in Estonia had already expanded remarkably. On their first anniversary in Estonia, Alfons Håkans had eight tugs in service in the country. Pallas, Helios, Calypso and Protector were based in the port of Muuga; Neptun, Akilles and Torvik in ports in the Tallinn region while Waija operated in the port of Paldiski. If necessary, further towing capacity could be available at short notice in Estonia from the fleet based in Finland. In Estonia, larger tugs were needed more than in Finland. The concept applied by Alfons Håkans in Finland was to have manned tugs standby only in the busiest ports. The company based its smaller tugs in a large number of less trafficked ports along the coast. They were basically unmanned and the crews were transported to them by car when an assignment appeared. This concept did not work in Estonia. Despite a much smaller number of ports than in Finland, the ports in Estonia are larger with more concentrated traffic and they thus FROM THE VERY START THE COMPANY EMPLOYED PEOPLE FROM ESTONIA, WHO KNEW THE MARKET AND THE LOCAL CONDITIONS, A STRATEGY WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A SUCCESSFUL ONE. have a more frequent need for harbour towing. The share of large tankers and bulk carriers, which always need the assistance of tugs, was considerably larger in Estonia than in Finland. Therefore the Estonian tugs are in general manned all the time. When entering the Estonian market, Alfons Håkans strategy was to gain a strong foothold with a rather large number of tugs in the area. When the market shares were stabilized, the number of tugs deployed by Alfons Håkans in Estonia was continuously adjusted regarding to the actual demand. However, PKL operated a larger fleet with more powerful and modern tugs, and, as a result PKL succeeded in remaining a considerably larger player on the market. The establishment of Alfons Hakans OÜ was welcomed by the customers. Initially the major problem of PKL as the only tug operator on the Estonian market was that the company did not have sufficient capacity to serve the market in a way that the customers demanded. For example in the port of Paldiski it was common that vessels had to wait for assistance. Alfons Håkans provided the needed additional capacity when entering the market. PKL had initiated a large newbuilding programme. When Alfons Håkans actually started its operations in Estonia in 2005 all the newbuildings of PKL for the Estonian market were already financed. The only exception was the tug Castor, which was initially intended for Estonian market, but was employed mostly in Latvia due to the shortage of large tugs on that market. Therefore PKL did not require any financing for newbuildings for the Estonian ports, as no new tugs were launched for that market after 2005. However, competition together with the market recession after 2008, significantly lowered the profitability of PKL. Still the company remained profitable for all the remaining years with a low debt/assets ratio, and with dividends paid every year, but definitely had to cancel further newbuilding projects for Estonian market. Amber Trust had bought out three private owners of PKL. Rein Tõntson and Grigori Oništšenko remained as owners of the company and had actually increased their share during that reorganization. There were many reasons for inviting the investment fund in 2006. Several shareholders wanted to leave and PKL needed funds to finish their newbuilding program. Investment in the company was part of the deal with Amber Trust. 41
P-H SJÖSTRÖM J SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Triton and Allure of the Seas on sea trials on 13 September 2010. Allure of the Seas was the largest cruise vessel in the world. The escort tug is the Neste-owned Ukko. FLEET RENEWAL 42 MSC Hina turned around in 3 June 2011 after a refit at Turku Helsinki Vuosaari Harbour by the shipyard. tugs Helios and Poseidon on 18 June 2010. Triton and the car carrier Arabian Breeze in Hanko 1 August 2011. Fart assisting in the port of P-H SJÖSTRÖM J HUOTARI Naantali in 2007. P-H SJÖSTRÖM The Finnish market changed as well. In 2007 the Finnish foreign trade reached peak volumes and, more importantly the transit shipments to and from Russia through Finnish ports boomed. The port of Kotka expanded and in August 2007, Alfons Håkans bought the tug Stevns Icequeen from Denmark. Renamed Poseidon she initially operated under the Estonian flag. It soon became clear that the tug was needed in Kotka due to the growing traffic and on 6 December 2007, Poseidon changed to the Finnish flag. In particular the numbers of calls with large car carriers had increased rapidly due to the Russian car imports. In 2007 the company still needed another tug, but there was virtually nothing suitable on the second hand market. The fact that the main competitor on the Estonian market, PKL, simultaneously renewed its fleet, made the situation even more difficult on the Estonian market. ”We looked for tonnage, but there was such an activity within shipbuilding that it was not even possible to order newbuildings. Then, in spring 2008, it came to our knowledge that Amber was for sale in Ventspils,” Stefan Håkans, managing director and chairman of the board of Alfons Håkans group, recalls. Stefan travelled to Ventspils with short notice to inspect the rather new vessel together with the technical manager. They found that the 55.5 ton bollard pull ASD-tug was in excellent condition. Delivered by Damen in 2005, the tug is powered by two CAT-diesel engines with a total output of 5,000 bhp. She was on charter to Ostas Flote. A deal was made through a Latvian law firm with the approval from the authorities. The new owner flew his crew to Ventspils and only a couple of hours later the tug left the port. The same day the former crew had been informed that the vessel was sold and they were kindly asked to immediately collect their belongings and leave the vessel. Due to conflicts between certain parties in Ventspils at that time the new owner feared actions and thought it was better to leave as soon as possible. Amber was therefore temporarily registered as a pleasure craft when she left the port Triton was one of the tugs moving the rig Castoro Sei on under the Finnish flag, and was renamed Triton, under the command of Captain Olli Saarinen. After that Triton was based in Hanko, which was also a very busy port in the car trade. Amber had been the most powerful tug in the Ostas Flote-fleet. Now the Latvian tug operator had to find a substitute. The company contacted Alfons Håkans about a charter back, but the tug was badly needed in Finland to secure the activities in Hanko. Neither did Alfons Hakans OÜ have any surplus tugs. Then Ostas Flote approached PKL with a request for a suitable tug for charter. H. Kanter was taken on charter, decreasing the capacity of PKL in the port of Muuga. A merger between PKL and Ostas Flote took place, resulting in the Latvian company PKL Flote AS. In fall 2008 came the collapse due to the global financial crisis. The port of Hanko lost a significant part of its traffic due to a dramatic decrease in car imports. Still Triton was needed in Hanko. Triton was also a frequent guest in Turku when additional capacity was needed, for example in connection to sea trials or deliveries of large cruise vessels built by the Turku shipyard. The fleet was further renewed in January 2011 when Rederi Ab Fakir within the Alfons Håkans group of companies bought the push tugs Kari and Aulis from Neste Shipping Oy. The tugs had been built by Hollming Oy in Rauma in 1981 and were converted to push tugs in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Since that they had been operating together with the bitumen barges Bitpro I and Bitpro II. Financing had already been arranged when Joakim Håkans inspected the tugs in Kotka shortly before Christmas in 2010. He realized that the vessels would be a perfect fit in the Alfons Håkans-fleet. However, the owner had already received an offer for the whole push-barge system, and preferred to sell the tugs and barges en bloc. Deeply disappointed Joakim Håkans saw the good deal slip. But the story did not end there. A couple of days later the owner of the tugs contacted Joakim Håkans and told him that the deal with the intended buyer had failed. When he was offered the two tugs again Joakim Håkans did not hesitate and the deal was made. Renamed Artemis and Apollon, the tugs were converted back for harbour towing duties in spring 2011 by lowering the superstructure. The work was carried out within the group. After completion Artemis was based in Helsinki and Apollon in Rauma. When Triton was sold Artemis was transferred from Helsinki to Hanko. Instead Calypso left Estonia to be based in Helsinki. 43
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 THE ACQUISITION OF PKL After expanding to Estonia, the business strategy of Alfons Håkans was clear – to grow and eventually become the market leading tug operator on the local market. When Amber Trust acquired shares of PKL in 2006, it was agreed that 100 per cent of the company would be sold within the timeframe of three to five years to a strategic investor. That was always the goal of all shareholders. The crisis and market recession delayed the sale process, thus it was not until 2011 that the shareholders made an official tender for 100 per cent of the shares of the company, arranged by one of the leading Nordic investment banks, SEB Enskilda. PKL were in extensive negotiations with several European tugboat companies, including Svitzer, Smit, Buksér og Berging, but Alfons Håkans definitely had the best synergy potential and could make the best bid. The talks between Stefan Håkans and the owners of PKL had been going on for almost two years when the breakthrough finally came. On Wednesday 11 December 2013 Alfons Håkans acquired AS PKL. PKL then operated 14 tugs, located in Tallinn, Muuga, Sillamäe and Paldiski in Estonia as well as Riga and Ventspils in Latvia. After the acquisition Alfons Håkans operated more than 40 tugs in Finland, Estonia and Latvia and became the largest tug owner in Finland and the Baltic countries by the number of vessels operated. After the drawn out negotiations Stefan Håkans was pleased with the result. “This acquisition is a remarkable part of our strategy to participate actively in the changing market situation of the towage industry in the Baltic Countries. This will support the growth target of the company towards becoming a major harbour towage and icebreaking operator in the Northern Baltic Sea and we see this as a positive change for our customers in Baltic countries,” he stated after the announcement of the deal. 44 H.Kanter, Protector and Atlas in the port of Muuga in 2015. Saturn and Vega during a show on Tallinn Maritime Days 2014. Saturn in the port of Tallinn in 2014. ”THIS ACQUISITION ENABLES SYNERGIES THAT WILL CREATE MORE FLEXIBILITY IN POSITIONING THE TUGS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME AND WILL ALSO BENEFIT THE ENTIRE LOGISTIC CHAIN IN THE PORTS,” STEFAN HÅKANS SAID. By being a larger operator Alfons Håkans was able to invest more towards the safety of the shipping, high quality customer service and make sure that these services for the customers are provided on time. ”This acquisition enables synergies that will create more flexibility in positioning the tugs in the right place at the right time and will also benefit the entire logistic chain in the ports,” Stefan Håkans said. The purchase was financed by SEB Bank Estonia and KPMG acted as advisors for Alfons Håkans. Financing such a deal was not an easy task in the harsh economic climate following the financial crisis. In summer 2013, when it already looked like the whole deal was doomed, Alfons Håkans got a request for tender from the Dutch company Kotug for two ice strengthened tugs. Joakim Håkans knew that Poseidon and Triton would be the perfect vessels. On the other hand, the consequence of a deal would have been that other tugs had to be transferred from Estonia to Finland to compensate for the decrease of capacity. After that it would not have been possible to continue operations in Estonia as before, as Alfons Håkans would not have been able to fulfil all of their contracts. The sale of the vessels would enable the financing of the purchase of PKL. But it was a complicated situation. If the owners of PKL would have known about the challenges Alfons Håkans were experiencing in raising the required sum, the deal would have failed. Neither did Alfons Håkans want the potential buyer of Poseidon and Triton to realize the difficult situation, as this would most certainly affect the negotiations about the price. During a nerve wrecking two weeks window all the pieces had to fall into place for the deal to be closed. Everything succeeded as planned and both Triton and Poseidon were sold to Kotug, who immediately bare boat chartered them to the Russian owner Rosnefteflot. Alfons Håkans got their financing for the acquisition of PKL. . 45
P-H SJÖSTRÖM S SAARI ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 LARGE FLEET The second Atlas was in the Alfons Håkans acquired PKL with future development in mind. Stefan and Joakim Håkans regarded it as the best way to expand and thus secure the future of the company. At the same time it would improve the company’s position in the Baltic states, where Estonia and Latvia were considered the most important markets.The market situation in Estonia had also been challenging for Alfons Håkans. Despite a larger demand for traditional towing services than in Finland, the Baltic states still provided a very limited market for two large operators. The Estonian ports had been facing a decreasing trend in cargo volumes for several years. For Alfons Håkans it became obvious that one large and strong market player could succeed in maintaining sustainable profitability and offering good service with a long-term perspective on a static market with even a slowly regressive trend. PKL had also caused disruption on the Finnish market by starting activities with modern ASD tugs in Kotka, Hamina and Loviisa ports in 2008. According to both Stefan and Joakim Håkans the acquisition of PKL turned out to be a successful deal, fulfilling their expectations. ”Eventually it would have lead us into a precarious situation if the deal had failed. The Baltic states form an important market as a complement to our domestic operations. There are also other reasons, such as taxation and personnel costs, why it is important for us to also operate in the Baltic states,” Joakim Håkans states. ”It was a turning point for our company and perhaps the most important waypoint for us so far in this century”, Stefan Håkans adds. 46 Vega was sold in 2014. Alfons Håkans fleet 2010–2012. Calypso. H.Kanter. ACCORDING TO BOTH STEFAN AND JOAKIM HÅKANS THE ACQUISITION OF PKL TURNED OUT TO BE A SUCCESSFUL DEAL, FULFILLING THEIR EXPECTATIONS. ”EVENTUALLY IT WOULD HAVE LEAD US INTO A PRECARIOUS SITUATION IF THE DEAL HAD FAILED.” Indeed – it was a quantum leap for the company. Alfons Håkans gained possession of the largest and most modern fleet of tugs in the Baltic states. Many of the acquired vessels in the PKL-fleet were newbuildings from in Ukraine, equipped by well-known suppliers such as Rolls-Royce, Caterpillar and Wärtsilä. All of the large ASD-tugs in the fleet had been built during the 2000s. There were also some smaller newbuildings, but because of their rather light hulls, the new owner did not regard them as versatile as the larger tugs. Therefore one of them, Vega, was sold in autumn 2014 to Poland. The sale of Vega enabled Alfons Håkans to repay its remaining obligations to Amber Trust. There was also a former Swedish conventional tug in the PKL-fleet, St Olof, which is a sister vessel to Atlas (ex Per), bought by Rederi Ab Fakir in spring 2010. Per had been renamed Atlas by Rederi Ab Fakir but was sold already in autumn 2012 to Söderhamns Stuveri & Hamn AB. St Olof had been renamed Aku by PKL when she was based at Kotka. When repositioned in Estonia the name was changed to Eridan. When Alfons Håkans acquired PKL Eridan was once again renamed, now Atlas, after the identical sister sold in 2012. The conventional tug Tom was sold in 2014. In addition to that the powerful tug Marss-1, originally built by Hollming in Rauma in 1982, was sold in 2013. As a replacement, the tractor tug Telstar was bought from the Netherlands and renamed Sirius. In addition to the PKL-owned tugs, the fleet included Janet, which was renamed Triton. This tug was for a further five years operating on a buyout-leasing arrangement. The ownership was now transferred to the Alfons Håkans group. 47
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 CONSOLIDATION For about half a year after the acquisition of PKL, the two subsidiaries within the group operated in Estonia, Alfons Hakans OÜ and AS PKL. For streamlining the operations and eliminating overlapping functions, in May 2014 Alfons Hakans OÜ was merged with AS PKL. Simultaneously the marine operations in Finland were transferred to the Estonian company. For a few days the name of the group was officially PKL, as it took some time both in Finland and in Estonia before the new name Alfons Hakans AS had been registered by the authorities. AS Alfons Hakans, Suomen sivuliike, became the registered name of the branch office managing the marine operations in Finland. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Finnish mother company Alfons Håkans Oy Ab. The arrangement was partially a result of the financing of the deal as SEB Bank in Estonia would not have been able to grant loans to a Finnish company. The Finnish branch office subsidiary is working under Finnish legislation. Iris Raudmets was appointed managing director of Alfons Hakans OÜ after Arvo Veskimets, who left the company in December 2009. She continued as managing director for Alfons Hakans AS after the acquisition of PKL. The former managing director of PKL, Deniss Lazarevs, was appointed commercial manager and is also head of the operations in Latvia. Alfons Hakans AS also moved into a new office in World Trade Center Tallinn, close to the Old Port (Vanasadam). For four years the operational marketing in Estonia and Latvia was handled by Joakim Håkans from the main office in Turku. He did so until the company had established its new position on the market after the expansion. 48 The Dutch submarine Bruinvis arriving at Tallinn on 17 Oktober 2014 under assistance of Saturn. The PKL-tugs Saturn and Arkturus during a tugboat show in Tallinn’s Lennusadam 2010. Deniss Lazarevs, Iris Raudmets and Urmass Sall of Alfons Hakans AS. 49
P-H SJÖSTRÖM STUDIO KUKKA ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR In connection with the acquisition of PKL a generational shift also took place in Alfons Håkans. In 2013 Stefan Håkan’s son Joakim was officially appointed managing director. Taking over the ultimate responsibility for the family business did not present any really new challenges for the new managing director, as he had been in charge of a substantial part of the activities already since 1998. He had for years been a driving force in developing new ideas complementing the core business. In addition to leading the company Joakim Håkan’s area of responsibility as managing director was, among other things, operations and sales. At the same time Stefan Håkans stepped down from all involvement in the daily operations and continued as chairman of the board. Joakim Håkans had started his career in the family company as a deckhand on the tug Fart at the age of 16 in the late 1980s, but he had developed a passion for tug operations much before that. ”Already at a young age I used to ride my bike to the port to watch the tugboats almost every day after school,” he recalls. ”Many times I asked if there were any upcoming missions and if I could join them on board, but every time they said that there was nothing in sight. Later I learned that they on several occasions had left the port as soon as I was out of sight,” he continues with a twinkle in his eye. After high school, Joakim knew that he wanted to be a deck officer and sea captain. To be qualified to apply to the maritime college in Turku, in those days Åbo Navigationsinstitut, he had to obtain seagoing practice on vessels in the North Sea trade first. 50 Joakim Håkans could be described as really hands-on. He likes straight action and leads the company from the front line. He is as comfortable on the bridge of a tug, leading an operation, as in the board room, drawing new strategies. He is also proud of his seagoing background and prefers the title captain to managing director. SINCE HE WENT A SHORE, HE HAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO BE AT SEA. He therefore sailed on vessels of the shipping companies ESL, Rederi Ab Engship and Langh Ship. After graduating as a watchkeeping officer in 1992 he completed one year of service in the Finnish Navy and then worked one year as deck a officer in different positions on tugs and the roro-vessel Borden. After that he had the practice required to continue his studies to sea captain at the maritime college. Alongside his studies he also worked at sea. A rather odd mission he participated in was to sail the newbuilding Röthelstein, an Austrian river icebreaker, from the shipyard in Helsinki to Ybbs an der Donau in Austria in 1995. ”Our class got the mission from the builder Kvaerner Masa Yards and the money we earned was spent on a class excursion to Brazil after graduation. It was quite an odd feeling to be a master on an Austrian icebreaker. After the first part of the voyage on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea we sailed on the inland waterways. We had a pilot onboard all the way from Amsterdam. To Frankfurt am Main we sailed day and night, but after that there was only daylight navigation. We passed a total of 65 locks,” Joakim Håkans says. Joakim Håkans graduated as a sea captain 1996 and got his masters license soon after that. He continued his career at sea as a master on several tugs in the Alfons Håkans fleet. Joakim Håkans joined the office staff full time in 1998 from a post as master on the largest vessel in the fleet, the AHT/icebreaker Zeus. Since he went a shore, he has taken advantage of every opportunity to be at sea, partially to maintain his skills and keep his certificates as a seagoing deck officer up to date, but also because he loves the life at sea. Nowadays, when the company has expanded, there is not as many opportunities for him to work at sea as before, but he compensates this with spending as much time as possible – leisure time as well as working – in the family’s second home in the archipelago. 51
P-H SJÖSTRÖM J&H SOINILA ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Zeus breaking ice on Gulf of Bothnia March 2010 under command of captain Marcus DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS Continuous development of new domestic activities and testing new business ideas has been characteristic for Alfons Håkans during the last decades. The main reason is that the market for harbour towing has slowly declined during the same period in Finland. In the early 1960s, when Alfons Håkans moved his business from Vaasa to Turku, the tug Fart usually carried through an average of four to eight towing missions a day. In 2005 Alfons Håkans would hardly have that many missions during a whole month in the Turku region. The reason for the structural change of the market was quite simple. The numerous Finnish shipyards used to be important customers of Alfons Håkans, requiring frequent towing services at launchings, sea trials and deliveries. In general, many vessels in those days had no bow thrusters and did not manoeuvre as well as today. It was more of a rule than an exception that a vessel needed tug assistance when entering or leaving the port. Today, the situation is totally different. The newbuilding shipyards in Turku, Rauma and Helsinki deliver one or two newbuildings a year. The repair yard in Naantali has a need for towing service on a more regular basis only for larger repair vessels. High pilotage costs and fairway dues have decreased the calls of tramp vessels in many ports. Virtually all vessels calling at Finnish ports on a more or less regular basis, do not in normal situations need assistance from tugs. Cruise vessels are an exception, but they call mainly the port of Helsinki during the summer season. In general, harbour towage is regarded as more of a safety issue, for example in conditions with strong winds. Indeed, there is a quite stable market, but the volumes are quite small during normal circumstances. 52 Blomqvist. Apollon and the container vessel Heluan in the port of Rauma on 25 July 2013. SALVAGE IS A KEY BUSINESS AREA OF ALFONS HÅKANS AND WHEN AN ACCIDENT HAPPENS, THE COMPANY IS ABLE TO DEPLOY SUITABLE VESSELS WITH SHORT NOTICE. LIKE IN SALVAGE, ALSO ICEBREAKING IS ABOUT READINESS. Also, another important sector, barge shipments of large constructions or projects, has dramatically shrunk in importance since the 1980s and 1990s. Today these shipments are mostly handled by different types of multi-purpose vessels. As a consequence, Alfons Håkans has sold almost all of their seagoing deck barges with the exception of Panda. The two sectors remaining most important are salvage and icebreaking. Both are challenging from an operational point of view, as they are not providing a continuous workload, but still demands readiness and investments in suitable tonnage. In particular, salvage operations demand constant readiness and keeping up of know-how, even if there luckily does not occur many serious accidents at sea. Salvage is a key business area of Alfons Håkans and when an accident happens, the company is able to deploy suitable vessels with short notice. This is not just regarded as plain business by the company, it is also a safety issue. In many cases, a fast response with the right type of powerful tugs can reduce the risk of severe damage. Ice breaking in as well ports as open sea is a seasonal activity with varying circumstances from year to year. Like in salvage, also icebreaking is about readiness. The ice situation may change fast, making long term planning difficult. Usually it is common in this sector to sign agreements regarding a certain readiness for providing icebreaking services in ports or at sea. As a consequence of the changing market for harbour towage, the lack of a steady workload in Finland gradually became a problem for Alfons Håkans. In the late 1980s, the company grew fast and gradually established bases for tugs all along the Finnish coast. At the same time, the activities were rationalised to obtain synergies and economy of scale. In the 1990s, the company had some 30 tugs based along a substantial part of the Finnish coast, but not all of them were constantly manned. In a number of key ports there were tugs ready for action on a short notice. For tugs based in the other ports, the crews were transported by car. Despite rationalising and streamlining the organisation, there was not enough work in Finland to keep the whole fleet constantly manned. 53
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 AMORELLA On 20 September 2020 Viking Line’s car- and passenger ferry Amorella touched bottom close to Julgrund in Åland archipelago due to a technical failure. As the forward draft increased and the ship got a starboard list the captain decided Amorella to steer the ship to shallow water off Järsö to stabilize the situation. With the fore part of the ship steadily on the seabed the 200 passengers were evacuated. The salvage operation was carried out by Alfons Håkans and on site led by captain Pekka Arasola. The tugs Kraft, Neptun and Jupiter were deployed for the operation. Amorella was refloated on 23 September and towed to the port of Långnäs where the cargo deck was discharged. The vessel was during the next day towed to Turku Repair Yard in Naantali for repairs. 54 55
P-H SJÖSTRÖM P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Lucky Luke on trials in Turku archipelago 11 September 2008. BALTIC PILOT 56 The pilot boat Aiolos alongside the cargo vessel Linda Marijke off Rauma on 21 August 2007. Pilot Markku Soini on Lucky Luke. P-H SJÖSTRÖM One of the most ambitious projects launched by Joakim Håkans was Baltic Pilot, a group owned private enterprise entering the opened market for pilotage. However, after the activities had begun the Finnish pilotage law was revised and did not open up pilotage for free competition after all. The consequence was that Baltic Pilot eventually lacked a market to operate in . Baltic Pilot Ltd Oy started its pilotage services in the Rauma fairway in August 2007. The first vessel to be piloted was the dry cargo vessel Deo Volente (”God willing”). The intention was to expand the activities to cover also some other fairways along the Finnish coast. The main owner of the new company was Joakim Håkans. Baltic Pilot entered a ten year agreement with the tug operator and sister company Alfons Håkans Oy Ab which covered transportations of the pilots to and from the vessels. Alfons Håkans acquired several second-hand pilot vessels and also ordered five high speed pilot boats of RIB-type from the Netherlands. Only one of them was delivered, the Lucky Luke, in summer 2008. The pilots of Baltic Pilot were Finnish Master Mariners with extensive experience as captains on different types of ships worldwide. Many of them had also worked as coastal pilots in Finland for more than ten years. However, Baltic Pilot immediately got into trouble. The Finnish maritime administration threatened to report to the police those vessels using the services of Baltic Pilot and the Ministry of Transport and Communications forbid the activities in November 2007. The activities ceased during autumn 2007. THE PILOTS OF BALTIC PILOT WERE FINNISH MASTER MARINERS WITH EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE AS CAPTAINS ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF SHIPS WORLDWIDE. After that Baltic Pilot entered the market for deep sea pilotage in 2008. Deep sea pilotage was regarded as one of the most efficient ways to prevent disastrous oil spills in the Baltic Sea area. Baltic Pilotage Authorities Commission, which is a governmental organization for pilotage authorities in the countries adjacent to the Baltic Sea, recommended deep sea pilotage for tankers but also for other ships which are constrained by their draught or registered in other than the Baltic states and infrequently sail in the Baltic Sea. The company carried out its first deep sea pilotages in May 2008 and the results were encouraging. The first two vessels were both car carriers, sailing from the port of Hanko. Off Bornholm the Finnish pilot left the vessel and a Danish pilot continued westwards. Markku Soini, who was the senior pilot at Baltic Pilot, said that there was a huge potential in deep sea pilotage in the Baltic Sea: “It is obvious that the shipments from the Russian oil terminals in the Eastern part of the Gulf of Finland will be our main area of interest,” he stated back then. The intention was to co-operate with the British company Deep Sea and Coastal Pilots, which operates in the North Sea and the English Channel. Together the companies could have offered a complete pilotage from the Gulf of Finland to the English Channel. “Deep Sea and Coastal Pilots has some 40 pilots, who work between 170 and 180 days a year. We are talking about a large activity in the North Sea,” Kimmo Lehto, a licensed deep sea pilot at Baltic Pilot, confirmed. Everything looked good until the global finance crisis hit shipping as a sledgehammer in autumn 2008. The freight rates plunged, bunker prices started to rise and a large number of vessels were forced to be laid up. No one talked of deep sea pilotage anymore, as it was not mandatory and would have been a cost addition when the shipping companies sought after cost reductions by every possible means. After that Baltic Pilot Ltd Oy has occasionally been active on the market, mainly by providing ice pilotage. 57
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 ENTERING THE REPAIR YARD BUSINESS 58 Suomenlinna shipyard in 2015. Hector, Apollon and Zeus in the drydock. Ruissalo shipyard in 2019. Håkans Shipservice provides repair services within the group. P-H SJÖSTRÖM Joakim Håkans continued to look for new business opportunities. In November 2010 Alfons Håkans reached an agreement on taking over the operations at the repair yard in Suomenlinna off Helsinki with effect from 1 May 2011. The site included a 120 meters long drydock with a 21.5 meters wide gate, allowing drydocking of vessels up to 7 meters in draft. Joakim Håkans explains that the repair yard was primarily intended for drydockings of vessels in the company’s fleet. It was a rational decision, as in those days there were very few alternatives in Finland. The channel to the repair yard Teijon Telakka was too shallow for larger tugs, leaving Turku Repair Yard as the only domestic option. It became less attractive for docking smaller vessels when their floating dock was taken out of service. ”We had an average of ten drydockings a year after the acquisition of PKL. Back then we already had a repair team, the only thing that we have lacked was a docking facility.” The Suomenlinna shipyard ensured the needs of drydockings and maintenance within the Alfons Håkans group. Joakim Håkans says that it was not necessarily the absolute cheapest way, but it was for sure not the most expensive way either. Above all, it was an efficient way of handling drydockings with such a large number of vessels in the fleet. The capacity of the Suomenlinna Shipyard was well utilized and annually some 20 vessels are drydocked, of which half is owned by the group. Site manager at the Suomenlinna Shipyard was Tero Hänninen. To minimize environmental impact on the historic site, Alfons Håkans introduced an efficient and well-proven hydroblasting method called Ultra High Pressure water jetting (UHP) to replace conventional sandblasting at the Suomenlinna Shipyard. UHP is using just fresh water to do the job – although under a pressure of up to 3000 bar. The equip- ment is portable, enabling blasting of cargo holds or other structures during voyage or while the vessel is in port or dry dock. In the late 2010s the repair market had changed. New docking opportunities occurred in the Baltic states as the group’s operations expanded. The fairway to Teijon Telakka was also improved, providing docking possibilities for the tugs with larger draft. Therefore the rental agreement for the Suomenlinna shipyard was not renewed in 2018. ”We learned that it was expensive to run a repair yard, even if we cut the costs to a minimum. When the conditions in the repair market changed, it was an easy decision to put an end to this chapter as alternative solutions appeared. Operating a shipyard on a historical site with no road connection was challenging, to say the least, especially from a logistical point of view,” Joakim Håkans says. In July 2013 Alfons Håkans expanded its activities within repair and maintenance by taking over the Ruissalo shipyard from the city of Turku. All repair activities could now be moved from the Pansio site – which was also an old shipyard – to Ruissalo. Further, all the functions from the main office on Linnankatu 36 were successively moved to the Ruissalo site. 59
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 P-H SJÖSTRÖM OFFSHORE WIND FARMS Zeus of Finland towing monopiles from Rostock to the offshore construction site RESCUE SOCIETY In February 2006 Alfons Håkans placed its tug Pluto to the disposal of Åland sea rescue society (Ålands sjöräddningssällskap). The vessel was handed over in Mariehamn on 14 February and according to the owner’s wish the name was changed to Algot Johansson after the legendary Åland shipowner. Algot Johansson remained under Alfons Håkan’s ownership, but was manned and operated by Ålands Sjöräddningssällskap. Algot Johansson replaced the smaller Gustaf Erikson, which was taken over by Alfons Håkans and used as a small tug. Algot Johansson was replaced by the more powerful tug Harald after the engine room fire in the ro pax ferry Sea Wind on 2 December 2008. The co-operation ended in spring 2015 when Ålands Sjöräddningssällskap bought a rescue vessel from Norway. 60 Kriegers Flak. The tug Algot Johansson after the delivery to Ålands sjöräddningssällskap on 14 February 2006. Delivery of Algot Johansson in Mariehamn on 14 February 2006. Far left is Sven-Erik Johansson, the son of shipowner Algot Johansson. The expansion of wind power at sea was one of the reasons for establishing the shipping company Rederi Ab Fakir. The company started its activities in January 2009 by buying the deck barge KBV 868 from the Swedish Coast Guard as well as the Finnish dry cargo vessel Pamela. By combining these two, a new special vessel for installation of wind power plants was to be built. The plan was to transfer the propulsion system and other technical equipment from the Pamela to the deck barge, which would then become a self-propelled motor ship. The main engines and the two Aquamaster propulsion units of the Pamela were rather new. The deck barge was then 20 years old, and constructed for oil recovery, but in excellent condition. The barge was renamed Fakir. The aluminium superstructure and bridge from the previous tug Poseidon was to be recycled and installed on the new vessel. The Fakir would also have been equipped with 24 metres long support legs and two cranes for the construction work. After removing its engines, the Pamela was used as a barge and renamed Faika. 61
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Zeus of Finland towing the heavy lift installation vessel Svanen from Vlissingen to the Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm. DESPITE A LARGE NUMBER OF PROJECTS HARVESTING CLEAN OFFSHORE WIND POWER IN OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, ONLY VERY FEW FINNISH PROJECTS WERE INITIATED. 62 Despite a large number of projects harvesting clean offshore wind power in other European countries, only very few Finnish projects were initiated. Fakir was sold to Pampas Marine in Stockholm and no further development of this business idea was carried through. Faika remained in the fleet as a floating workshop, based at Suomenlinna. The equipment from Pamela was put in storage for future use. Even if the domestic market for offshore wind power did not catch wind in its sails, Alfons Håkans has been a provider of services for offshore wind farms on other markets. In 2020 the tug Zeus of Finland entered a charter to Van Oord for the energy company Vattenfall to participate in their Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm construction project. Zeus of Finland started its mission in May 2020 by towing the heavy lift installation vessel Svanen from Vlissingen in the Netherlands to the wind farm construction area. During the summer Zeus of Finland was towing monopiles, weighing up to 800 tons, from Rostock to the offshore construction site located 15 to 40 kilometers off the Danish coast. The heavy monopile foundations, 72 in total, were towed one by one. To keep them watertight and floating, both ends of the monopiles were closed with plugs weighing 25 and 45 tons to make them airtight and floating. Once the pile was lifted up from the water by the crane on Svanen the plugs were loaded on the deck of Zeus of Finland for transport back to Rostock. These plugs were then re-installed on the next monopile in the port of Rostock, before it was towed out to the construction site. Zeus of Finland continues to deliver monopiles to the Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm construction site until September 2020. 63
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 HEAVY TRANSPORTS IN THE ARCHIPELAGO Rederi Ab Fakir bought two surplus units from the Finnish navy in 2010. The company acquired the transport ferries Kampela 1 and Kala 4, which were renamed Pontus and Kronos respectively. Shortly after that Kronos was sold and was converted to a private yacht named Kala. For the transport ferry Pontus, the company entered an agreement with the regional Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY-keskus/ NTM-centralen) for cargo shipments in the Turku archipelago until the end of 2015. For the summer season of 2012, Joakim Håkans launched several new ideas. In the Turku archipelago he bought some land on an island and built three summer houses in Estonia. In autumn 2011 they were shipped to Finland on the barge Levator, towed by Protector, completed and outfitted. During spring 2012 they were installed on site and sold. A deck barge was bought in 2012 for dredging in the archipelago with cottage owners as the main target market. The barge Airi and the excavator Liisa were towed to the different sites by the small tug Joonas. The barge was also used for transports. Due to very fierce competition in this sector in Turku archipelago the dredging activities were later closed down. In the summer of 2015, the dredger PKR I was bought from the city of Pori. It was called Teräsmies (“Superman”) and that is s now the official name. The deal also included the bottom door barge PKR V, which has been renamed Lois Lane. Prior to being bought by Alfons Håkans they were laid up for five years at Reposaari and will now be renovated. The intention is to employ them with fairway work as Teräsmies has a crane installed on deck. These assets are now at the disposal of a new joint venture Sea Courier. 64 JAKKE The transport ferry Pontus carrying cattle between pasture lands in the archipelago of Turku. Jakke on the River Aura in the heart of Turku. In summer 2013 it was again time to launch a new idea. A former road ferry was bought by Rederi Ab Fakir in 2012 and introduced as a combination of a ferry and a floating bar on the river Aura in Turku. Jakke Jokilautta (“Jakke the River Ferry”), became an instant success, counting some 15,000 passengers during the first season. The warm summer of 2014 brought 26,000 passengers. In 2015 the number was approximately 22,000 by the end of August. The season continued until mid September. During the winter lay up in 2014 and 2015, the ferry was upgraded and is today one of the main attractions during beautiful summer days and evenings in Turku. The business was expanded with good result in June 2018 by introducing Aura, another converted road ferry. Another road ferry, Sanna, was bought from Sweden in 2021. 65
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 FANNY & POLREC Fanny in the Archipelago Sea during a test of PolRec equipment developed by Alfons Håkans in P-H SJÖSTRÖM summer 2015. MOBY DICK The transport vessel Valas (“Whale”) was bought from the Finnish Navy in 2013 and has been rebuilt to a project vessel. The grey vessel was repainted white and renamed Moby Dick. She is now totally renovated and may also be used for representation. When the vessel was bought, the main engine had a wrecked crankshaft, but is now totally renovated. A larger crane has been installed, enabling handling of heavy salvage equipment. In addition to that Moby Dick is a backup vessel for icebreaking. 66 Moby Dick, “the white whale”, was the former naval transport vessel Valas (whale). ALFONS HÅKANS HAS A CONTINUOUS PREPAREDNESS FOR OIL REMOVAL OPERATIONS. THE COMPANY HAS DEVELOPED A SOLUTION, CONTAINING THE BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY TOOLBOX. In spring 2015 Rederi Ab Fakir acquired the former training vessel Fanny. The vessel was operated as a support ship for divers while testing PolRec-equipment (Pollution Recovery) developed by the company. When the test program was completed the vessel was sold. During the last years, the environmental hazard of numerous shipwrecks along the coast has been recognized more and more. The tanks of the sunken vessel contain fuel oil, which will start to leak out when the condition of the wreck is deteriorating. Naturally, every wreck is individual and the course of actions for oil removal must be thoroughly evaluated before the commencement of the operation. Alfons Håkans has a continuous preparedness for oil removal operations. The company has developed a solution, containing the best available technology toolbox. Development of the technology began already in 1984 when the bulk carrier Eira grounded off the coast of Vaasa. The toolbox is a combination of several different technologies such as patented remote operated Hot Tapping tool, vacuum pumps, viscosity control, transfer pumps as well as hoses and their handling units. Which technology is chosen depends on many factors, such as the structure of the wreck and its tanks, oil quality and quantity, environmental conditions, temperature, depth and currents. 67
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 SEA COURIER OY LTD In the end of 2020 Joakim Håkans and Keveri family in Estonia agreed to form a joint venture Sea Courier OÜ. It is characterised as a medium-size harbour and fairway construction company with the flexibility of a small operator and muscles of a big company. In the joint venture the complete fleet of vessels and the experience and knowhow from 23 years of operations within Keveri family business Merikuriiri – Sea Courier Oy Ltd will be combined with the fleet of Alfons Håkans barges and workboats. The fleet available for the new company includes for example heavy-duty work boats, dredgers, split hoppers and flat top barges. Keveri’s company has operated in the Baltic Sea region as well as in France, UK and Netherlands. Contracts in the home waters and in the international territories have included archipelago transportation, dredging & drilling and harbour construction for communities, cities, commercial harbours and energy industry. “There is a strong synergy between our companies and joining forces leads to a solid win-win case. Keveri’s innovative tools and methods together with Håkans’ sea towage experience and unequalled fleet create a competitive combination within the marine construction field”, summarizes the dynamic duo, Joakim Håkans and Jussi Keveri, 68 An important business area of Sea Courier OÚ is medium-size harbour and fairway construction. KEVERI’S INNOVATIVE TOOLS AND METHODS TOGETHER WITH HÅKANS’ SEA TOWAGE EXPERIENCE AND UNEQUALLED FLEET CREATE A COMPETITIVE COMBINATION WITHIN THE MARINE CONSTRUCTION FIELD. 69
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 ICEBREAKERS With more than 40 tugs in the fleet, Alfons Håkans is today one of the largest actors in this segment in the Northern Baltic Sea area. The fleet based in Finland has for several years consisted of some 30 tugs. During the last ten years there has occurred a renewal of the fleet. The oldest conventional tugs have become too weak and several of them has been sold to breakers. Generally there is a limited demand for conventional tugs on the market as the ASD tug is regarded the best solution for harbour towing. In large ports at least 30 tons of bollard pull is needed. Despite this global trend, Joakim Håkans thinks, that the optimum solution for their operations is a combination, including an ASD-tug and a conventional tug. However, despite the fact that virtually no conventional tugs are any longer being built, Joakim Håkans does not disregard them as outdated. The conventional tugs are above all outstanding harbour icebreakers. The best icebreakers among the larger tugs in the fleet are Neptun and Viikari. ”When the going gets really tough, for example in winter time, a conventional tug is the most robust and reliable solution. We must not forget that many of the conventional tugs in our fleet were originally built with a secondary role as harbour icebreakers. There is a difference between an icegoing and icebreaking tug. A modern, ice strengthened ASD tug may of course be safely operated in ice, but it is still no icebreaker. And the conventional tug is by no means outdated in harbour towing operations either, even if an ASD may be more agile. I prefer a fleet containing both types,” he says. 70 The dry cargo vessel Yvonne under tow by Zeus in heavy ice Thetis breaking ice in the Gulf of during the severe ice winter 2010. Bothnia. WHEN THE GOING GETS REALLY TOUGH, FOR EXAMPLE IN WINTER TIME, A CONVENTIONAL TUG IS THE MOST ROBUST AND RELIABLE SOLUTION. Alfons Håkans is committed to continue to be a strong and reliable operator in harbor tugs and icebreaking in the northern parts of the Baltic Sea and to support the Baltic Sea states in open-sea icebreaking. Alfons Håkans provides ice-breaking services for the states of Finland, Sweden and Estonia. To meet its promises the company will continue to modernize its fleet in 2019, collaborate extensively with various maritime operators and train its crew and staff to ensure high quality of operations in all situations. In 2016 Alfons Håkans bought the so far largest vessels in the fleet, the DP-ready, icebreaking Husky Class-multipurpose vessels Thetis and Hermes. They are suitable for a wide range of operations both in open water and ice. Designed for service in the Canadian Arctic these reliable vessels are ideal for icebreakingin the Baltic, as well as offshore operations in Arctic conditions, such as ice management. One of the largest and most powerful vessels in the fleet is the combined AHT/ icebreaker Zeus of Finland, which mainly is employed with offshore activities on the spot market on the North Sea. On 28 October 2011 the Finnish Transport Agency entered a long-term contract for five conventional icebreakers, among them Zeus, which form the basis for winter navigation assistance. The latest renewal of the icebreaking contract with Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency for Zeus of Finland took place in 2019 and covered the following seven years. The ASD tug Calypso has been modified to enable the use of a removable icebreaking bow. The motorised, detachable icebreaking bow has been named Saimaa and was handed over by Turku Repair Yard to the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency on 3 December 2020. The detachable icebreaking bow was designed to keep Lake Saimaa’s deep-water channels open the whole winter. 71
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 “Industry in the Saimaa region has wished for the extension of the current traffic season, as it has to resort to substitute transport when the canal is closed. Existing icebreakers cannot always assist merchant vessels effectively in difficult ice conditions. The detachable bow is able to break ice that is up to 70 cm thick,” says Kari Wihlman, Director-General of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. The detachable bow Saimaa will significantly improve icebreaking in the Saimaa Canal, and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s aim in for ships to be able to operate in the Saimaa Canal nearly year-round in the future. “The development of the Saimaa winter navigation fleet and the construction of a detachable bow were first discussed in 2013, but the detachable bow project was initiated in 2018,” explains Juuso Kummala, Director of Infrastructure Access and Information Services at the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. The detachable bow was designed by the engineering company ILS and built by Turku Repair Yard. Calypso is connected to the motorised detachable bow with a three-point hitch to create an icebreaker with more power. The detachable bow’s machinery is a hybrid solution which will store energy and depending on the ice conditions allow the ship to operate with one engine saving fuel and reducing emissions. “This new building project has been a unique challenge for our repair yard, in which our company’s extensive network has played a strong role. It is important and significant that Finland has strong expertise in the maritime industry. We are proud that this completely new and innovative ship type has been developed and built in Finland,” says Johan Backas, Managing Director of Turku Repair Yard. 72 Calypso and the detachable icebreaking bow Saimaa. “WE ARE PROUD THAT THIS COMPLETELY NEW AND INNOVATIVE SHIP TYPE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND BUILT IN FINLAND,” SAYS JOHAN BACKAS, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TURKU REPAIR YARD. The container vessel MSC Iris being assisted by Atlas and Kraft in Helsinki Vuosaari. The development of the detachable bow has been part of the WINMOS II project (Winter Navigation Motorways of the Sea II), which is an EU-CEF-funded winter navigation development project. The project’s objective is to develop and improve winter navigation, its cost efficiency and its safety, and to secure sufficient icebreaking resources in the future. 73
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 MODERN ASD TUGS In 2016 Alfons Håkans also bought the 85 ton bollard pull ASD tug Thorax, which was renamed Thor. The vessel was built in 1993 by the Norwegian shipyard Simek, which also built Zeus a few years later. The fleet of ASD tugs was further strengthened in 2018 with Osman Gazi, later renamed Poseidon, which was bought from Turkey. Another ASD tug, Pallas, was bought directly from the shipbuilder Damen in December 2018. Pallas is a standard tug of the type Damen ASD Tug 3010 Ice, built to ice class 1A Super. ”They had the tug in stock so we got a fast delivery”, Joakim Håkans said when the acquisition was made public. The conventional icebreaking tug Bonden was bought from Sweden in July 2018 and renamed Hurtig. As a part of renewing and modernizing the fleet Alfons Håkans also sold some of its older vessels. The Voith Schneider propelled tug Pallas was sold in December 2017 and in July 2018 the sister vessel Helios and the barge Scanbarge were sold. In the beginning of 2019 also the conventional tug Fram was sold to Sweden. In February 2019 Alfons Håkans continued the modernisation of the fleet by ordering two ice strengthened, 67 ton bollard pull ASD tugs from Sanmar shipyard in Turkey. Technical specifications with drawings were done in co-operation with Canadian Robert Allan Ltd and the vessels were delivered in 2021. 74 The tug Thor testing her powerful water cannons. Thor was sold to Norway in 2021. The Damen-built ASD tug Pallas. In 2019 Alfons Håkans also bought Bogser Team Öresund’s last two tugs Dunker and Kullen. In opposite to the usual practice of the company, these two tugs were not renamed. Simultaneously BTÖ also ceased its operations in Finland, where Hanko had been their base. Kullen was also sold in 2020 to Mälarhamnar in Sweden. In autumn 2019 Alfons Håkans bareboat chartered the ASD tugs Santa and Stella, from RB flote. These additions to Alfons Håkans’ fleet strengthened the company’s harbor towage capacity in Estonia. In May 2019, PKL - a new ASD tug for PKL Flote - was contracted. The tug, like Alfons Håkans’ two other newbuildings , is designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built at Sanmar shipyard in Turkey. It was delivered in August 2020 and named Altair. The latest acquisitions are the conventional, icebreaking tugs Isbjörn and Leo (ex Dynan). Isbjörn is based at Kaskinen (Kaskö) and Leo on the west coast of Finland. 75
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 The TundRA 3200 tugs are powered by two Caterpillar 3516C, IMO Tier II certified diesel engines, each rated 2000 bkW at 1600 rpm. Each main engine is coupled with a Kongsberg (formerly TWO NEW TUNDRA 3200-TUGS 76 with a 2.6 m propeller in a nozzle, delivering a bollard pull in excess The first newbuilding was of 65 tons. During sea trials the delivered in March 2021 and the second vessel performed a bollard second in May 2021. For their pull of 67,6 tons aft and 64,2 tons transfer voyages from Turkey to forward. Estonia the tugs were named Sanmar Tundra and Sanmar Tundra II respectively, flying the Turkish flag. Sanmar Tundra arrived at Muuga, Estonia, on 18 April and Sanmar II on 7 June. In Muuga Sanmar Tundra was renamed Selene and her sister vessel Helios (above). Both vessels got the Estonian flag. Helios is based in port of Muuga and Selene (below) in port of Hamina-Kotka. S SAARI In February 2019 Alfons Håkans announced that the company had contracted two ice-strengthened, 67-ton bollard pull ASD tugs from the Sanmar shipyard in Turkey. The technical specifications and drawings were made in co-operation with the Canadian naval architects and marine engineers Robert Allan Ltd. According to Alfons Håkans, the newbuildings were the first icebreaking escort tugs made for a private operator to arrive in Finland. The design project combined the experience of Alfons Håkans and Robert Allan Ltd. in icebreaking, escorting and assistance operations to match and exceed the performance of the region’s best existing tugs in all these qualities. ”This is a challenging task as only compliance with ice class doesn’t provide the required strength and performance. Also, combining good icebreaking and true escort performance is like mixing fire and ice, but with excellent co-operation between the designer and the operator these requirements were met,” explained Joakim Håkans, the Managing Director of Alfons Håkans, after the signing of the contract. This was one of the largest investments in the company’s history and it was a logical, strategic move in the continuous development and renewal of the tug fleet to meet the needs on a changing market. The huge investment was above all made to meet the global trend of larger and larger merchant vessels, which has also been seen in the Baltic Sea region. These versatile and powerful tugs support the company’s strategy to be the leading supplier of towing services in the northern Baltic Sea area with vessels designed for its specific conditions, including harbour icebreaking and escort towing. Rolls-Royce) US 255 CP Z-drive ”WE’VE FOUND OPTIMAL SOLUTIONS TO OUR NEEDS IN GREAT CO-OPERATION WITH THE DESIGNER, MANUFACTURERS AND SHIPYARDS. THESE VESSELS ARE AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE OF ICEBREAKING ESCORT TUGS TO OUR PARTNERS,” SAYS JOAKIM HÅKANS. Joakim Håkans says that the newbuildings will develop the company’s capacity to operate in the long run: ”With the tugs we can offer our clients safe and reliable service even if the trend of merchant vessels getting bigger continues.” The project was initiated within the company already in 2017 and the contract with Robert Allan Ltd. was signed in spring 2018. The design is customized for Alfons Håkans. This new class is a 32-metre variant of Robert Allan Ltd.’s successful TundRA series tugs, and it got the designation TundRA 3200. They are capable of performing multiple tasks, including escort, ship assist, icebreaking, ice management and open sea towing. The tugs also have the capability to carry extra provisions of fresh water to visiting merchant ships and up to 25 tons of deck cargo in two 20-feet containers. The balanced design combines good seakeeping with a relatively high speed in open water and in addition to that, an effective icebreaking capability. The hull is ice-strengthened in excess of the requirements of Finnish/Swedish Ice Class 1A Super. The vessels include outfitting of the highest standards for an operating crew of up to seven persons. The Master and Chief Engineer’s cabins and one crew cabin along with the galley and mess are located on the main deck. There are two double crew cabins on the lower accommodation deck, as well as laundry and sauna facilities. The deck machinery comprises a Rolls-Royce hydraulic double drum escort winch and one hydraulic vertical anchor windlass at the bow. The escort winch is spooled with a high-performance synthetic towline on each drum. In addition, a towing hook is provided on the aft deck. A dry and heated rope store is placed under the winch with convenient and safe access from the forecastle deck and from the lower accommodation deck. An 18 tonne-m Palfinger hydraulic knuckle boom marine crane is fitted on the aft deck with 14 m outreach. The tugs have an extensive ship-handling fendering, consisting of cylindrical bow fender of 1 m diameter at the forecastle deck level with W-block fenders below. Stern cylindrical fender of 0.8 m diameter is used, with D-fender installed along the sheer lines on the main deck. 77
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 SUFFICIENT CAPACITY ON ALL MARKETS Today it is not as usual as before for Alfons Håkans to temporarily transfer tugs between Finland and Estonia, providing additional capacity for single missions. The goal has been a fleet development providing sufficient capacity based on both coasts of Gulf of Finland. ”We now have a larger number of modern and strong tugs than before so the need to move them between Finland and Estonia does not exist in the same way as before. Indeed the tugs based in Hanko may sail across the gulf for a job in Paldiski now and then, but internal movements of the fleet is more concentrated between Estonian ports,” Joakim Håkans explains. The tugs form units of their own, which to a large extent have their own management on board. The senior masters of the fleet operating from the ports of Hamina, Kotka, Helsinki, Hanko, Turku, Rauma and Pori also act as site managers, responsible for the customer contacts and the tugs in the actual area. There are also several smaller ports being frequently called by for example bulk carriers requiring tug assistance, while the intervals between the calls are rather long. There are tugs permanently based in those ports, but they are unmanned most of the time. Instead the crews drive by car from the nearest base ports when needed. Whenever more towing capacity is needed also tugs can be temporarily relocated between the areas. 78 The cruise vessel Mein Schiff 4 leaving the Meyer Turku shipyard in May 2015, assisted by Iso-Pukki and Artemis. PKL Flote’s ASD tug Altair. IN ESTONIA EVERY TUG HAS A DESIGNATED CREW AND WE HAVE A SENIOR MASTER IN EACH PORT LEADING THE OPERATIONS AND ASSIGNING SUITABLE TUGS FOR THE ACTUAL MISSION. A total of some ten tugs are based in the Estonian ports of Sillamäe, Muuga, Tallinn and Paldiski. Most of them are permanently manned as the vessel traffic sets different demands on availability than in Finland. The towing missions come with short notice and the traffic is dominated by tankers and bulk carriers so the tugs have to be stand by all the time. The traffic is also concentrated to a few ports. ”In Estonia every tug has a designated crew and we have a senior master in each port leading the operations and assigning suitable tugs for the actual mission,” Joakim Håkans informs. In Latvia the operations are handled by the joint venture PKL Flote, which is included in the Alfons Håkans Group, employing two ASD-tugs in Riga and three in Ventspils. 79
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 LAND ORGANISATION TODAY Alfons Håkans Group has more than 300 employees today. In October 2020 Jussi Keveri was appointed deputy managing director of Alfons Håkans and started in his new role in December. He had earlier operated as master on several Alfons Håkans tugs: Hurtig, Fram, Baus, Kraft and Zeus. Before rejoining Alfons Håkans, Keveri has been working as a pilot in the Hamina-Kotka pilotage area since 2007. He is also an entrepreneur in the harbour and marine construction. The operations manager, Jari Talja, has been with Alfons Håkans for many years and is in charge of sea towage, cargo and heavy transports and also personnel. The operational management at the Turku office also includes Kimmo Lehto, HSSEQ manager. The technical management include Tuomas Raumanen, Technical Manager, as well as the Technical Superintendents Kari Rautalin and Robert Henriksson. Shipservice is led by Toni Stening. The Financial Management at the Turku office consists of Financial Manager Niko Sjöroos, executive secretary Eveliina Hulkkonen as well as Marjo Pohjonen and Leena Valtamo. Timo Saastamoinen is in charge of ICT. In 2020 the Estonian office moved to Tallinn’s new seafront district Noblessner, which originally was a shipyard for submarines. The land organisation in Tallinn includes Iris Raudmets, CFO of the Group, as well as Margit Lilleorg, Jana Trepp and Helina Simm of the financial management. The operational management in Estonia is formed by Deniss Lazarevs, commercial manager in Estonia and head of the Latvian subsidiary PKL Flote, Aleksandr Tšesnokov, commerce and operations manager, Margus Toots, fleet captain and Kertu Haavandi, personnel and quality manager. Dmitri Suurtamm and Heikki Luksepp are technical managers in Estonia. The offices in the Alfons Håkans Group work closely together. ”Especially the activities in Finland and Estonia we keep as close to each other as possible. Our offices have weekly meetings,” Joakim Håkans says. 80 Alfons Håkans has tugs permanently based at Kaskinen, Pori, Rauma, Uusikaupunki, Turku, Hanko, Inkoo, Kantvik, Helsinki, Hamina-Kotka, Sillamäe, Tallinn, Paldiski, Riga and Ventspils. THE FOURTH GENERATION Joakim Håkans and his sons Julius (on the left) and Nikolas, who both are participating in the activities of Alfons Håkans. Joakim Håkans’ sons Julius and Nikolas are also already taking part in the family company. Julius Håkans is studying to become a master mariner at Aboa Mare. He has also been working with different projects at the Ruissalo shipyard. Nikolas, the younger son, has graduated as watch officer engine. 81
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 RUISSALO The head office of the Alfons Håkans Group is located in Ruissalo, on the former court hunting grounds of Turku Castle, opposite the port. Currently, Ruissalo island serves as a marine recreation area for the people of Turku. 82 83
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 WINDS OF CHANGE HISTORY AND MODERNITY MEET IN RUISSALO The move of the Håkans office to the historic grounds of the Turku Boatyard, has brought many important tasks to fruition: the machine repair shop, the depot and the support service functions are now centralized in one place, and the entire office staff of the towage company now work under one roof. Simultaneously, the Boatyard has grown into an independent entity, with its own legendary story. The idea of moving to the Boatyard started in the summer of 2012, when Pekka Paasio, project manager of property development for the city of Turku, flashed the idea to Joakim Håkans of bringing the ship management interests into the Ruissalo area. The place was not so familiar to Håkans, but the good location, the functioning slipway and the buildings indicated serious potential. The city wished for the whole area, with its large buildings and piers in evident need of repair, to be taken over as an entity by the new owner, but Joakim Håkans approached the matter carefully. At an early stage, only a part of the building stock was transferred to the ownership of the company, and in 2013 a 50-year lease was signed for the area. 84 Soon, matters started taking on a life of their own. After getting to know the place better, Joakim Håkans grew more and more impressed by its history. The depot service of the towage company was transferred from Pansio to Ruissalo. Simultaneously, the project manager Pekka Paasio used his own network for sending a growing band of operators in the event, tourism and restaurant fields, to Joakim Håkans as they were all very interested in the old boatyard area. A situation was quickly reached, where many concurrent projects were happening in parallel at the boatyard and in the depot area. The interior shop Avelia, owned by Joakim Håkans´ wife Mari, moved from downtown Turku to the upper floor of the boatyard machine shop. Next to Avelia, a café was opened, while on the floor below, office space was renovated for the office staff of the towage company. Piers were repaired and old buildings renovated. The slip-taking and winter storage of pleasure boats was continued on the premises, with a focus on wooden classic yachts. To this end, facilities were reserved in the old boatyard building for an independently operating boatbuilder. Suddenly, the former, almost abandoned area, was teeming with life. One of the high spots at this early stage was the H2Ö festival for alternative music, which drew 9 000 people into the event space. As Joakim Håkans rightly reflects, new thoughts flowed like a continuous stream, fed by events in the grounds, the visitors, their ideas and experiences. The potential of the site was enormous, and you could not resist grabbing it. 85
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 FROM A BOATYARD TO AN EVENT LAUNCHING PAD Next, the old mast shed was renovated to make room for a quayside summer café. The marine café, sporting a pizzeria, grew quickly in favour. Its customers were boating people from the 40-berth guest marina as well as tourists and city dwellers arriving by water bus from the city. The next major innovation was the first actual new building, the Lindblom Hall with space for up to 800 guests, and the opening ceremony was in May 2018. A summer theatre was also started up in the area in 2019. Nowadays the social facilities of the Ruissalo Event Yard are among the most popular spots in Turku for parties, meetings and events. The facilities create a memorable by-the-sea setting for weddings, anniversaries and company gatherings. The area has hosted concerts for thousands, festivals, fairs and private happenings. Some forty persons work in the boatyard area. 86 STEEPED IN TRADITION AND NAUTICAL HISTORY Despite all the modernization, the long nautical and industrial traditions of the Boatyard are sincerely upheld. Close co-operation has been kept with the Museum centre of Turku. In the midst of the restaurants and the cultural activities, the key business activities of the Håkans towage company, the maintenance and slip-taking of its vessels, are still featured prominently. The original use and roughness of each facility has been left clearly visible, thus avoiding the sterile character of a museum. This work has been noted widely. In 2019, Ruissalo Yard was given the “Award for Good Building” by the city of Turku. In her award speech, Ms. Paula Keskikastari, chairman of the working group for the Turku Cityscape, noted that: “the new totality erected in the Boatyard premises has created a new possibility to experience Turku by the sea. The place is a veritable treasure on the outskirts of the city.” 87
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 88 Like the other managers of Åbo Boatyard, Tenlén was also an active yachtsman. ANN-SOFIE SELIN COLLECTIONS The development of the area is still continuing. Next in line for renovation is the old boatbuilding shed, where on the upper floor new working space has been installed for the entire office staff. On the lower floor, the G.A. Tenlén BBQ & Smokery has been created, and named in honour of the long-standing managing director of the Turku Boatyard. ANN-SOFIE SELIN COLLECTIONS PAYING TRIBUTE TO GUSTAF TENLÉN 89
SHIÅA ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 SHIÅA THE TURKU BOATYARD – A SUCCESS STORY OF ITS TIME 90 Henrik Ramsay’s Regina, and the Lillevi, designed by Zaké Westin, are waiting for launching. Luxury motor cruiser Paragon was designed by Zaké Westin. The biggest ever sailing yacht built at Åbo Båtvarf was the Mir. She was built in 1950. SHIÅA In its heyday, Åbo Båtvarf (1889-1954) was the largest boatyard in the Nordic countries. It was also a major operator on the European pleasure boat market. More than 5000 wooden boats were built at the Boatyard. The yard contributed strongly to the development of pleasure boating and yacht racing in Finland. Its wide production span ranged from rowboats and lifeboats to gunboats, torpedo boats and luxury cruisers. The Turku Boatyard was a one-stop, full-service operation, delivering vessels with first-class finish and fittings. The boats were normally delivered “ready to sail”, fully outfitted with all furnishings and suits of sails. Most metal fittings were manufactured at the in-house foundry, and most sails sewed at the yard sail-making loft. The reputation of the Boatyard soon spread past the national borders. Its’ products were exported to Russian aristocracy, to European yachtsmen, all the way to the U.S.A. and South America. In the 1930s, Åbo Båtvarf was one of the strongest, globally recognized Finnish brand names. Some boat types were made in long production runs. For example, several series of the Hai (Shark) sailboat were built for the United States, and in 1935 a total of 60 Chat one-design yachts were ordered by clients in France. The Turku Boatyard kept going for a longer time than any other Finnish boatyard of similar size. Many boats and vessels made at the yard are still going strong, some 70 years after its closure. This speaks well of the quality of the yard´s work, being fully appreciated to this very day. The manpower count did vary throughout the years, from below twenty to above two hundred, in some years rising to form the biggest boatyard in the Nordic countries. THE REPUTATION OF THE BOATYARD SOON SPREAD PAST THE NATIONAL BORDERS. ITS’ PRODUCTS WERE EXPORTED TO RUSSIAN ARISTOCRACY, TO EUROPEAN YACHTSMEN, ALL THE WAY TO THE U.S.A. AND SOUTH AMERICA. Boats from the Turku Boatyard have shown their paces regularly in the Olympics and other important regattas. The Boatyard gained many regular customers over the years. The clients were often top-notch Finnish yachtsmen, who raced their yachts in the most important regattas, both nationally and internationally. Some of these key customers, known as the Airistocrats, were for example Harry Wahl, the merchant and shipowner from Vyborg, the industrial families of von Rettig and Ahlström, the commercial counsellor Hemming Elfving, minister Henrik Ramsay and the business magnate Gunnar Grönblom. Through this network of influential clients, and the companies they were involved in, the Boatyard gained a sizable order book for new yachts. The yacht owners did also include royalty, such as the dowager Empress Maria Fjodorovna, the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovitch Romanov and the Greek royal couple, King Paul and Queen Frederica. But the Boatyard did not serve only the wealthy. Its production also offered small motorboats and sailing boats, rowing boats and dinghies. The starting point was to serve all paying customers equally – in the Prohibition years the Boatyard was happy to build fast boats for the Customs and the Coast Guard – but also for the “rum runners” who smuggled the booze. After the Second World War, rising labour costs sent prices through the roof, making the large serial orders practically impossible. The order book shrunk, and the rebuilding of post-war society gave little scope for frills such as large pleasure yachts. The Boatyard soon ran into economic difficulties and discontinued operations in 1954. 91
TOM BÄCKSTRÖM TOM BÄCKSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 92 In the 1930’s a series of motor yachts was built for the Coastguard. In 1935 a series of Hai sailing yacht was ordered to the United States. Åbo Båtvarf workers in a picture from the 1910’s. In the second row from the right, in white, is the managing diector Tenlén. Left of him August Westin. SHIÅA After the operations of the Turku Boatyard ceased, the yard area was transferred into the ownership of the City of Turku. The city purchased the boatyard including its buildings, on the recommendation of the Port committee, to be used for the port authority´s own storage and repair activities. In the committee proposal of April 1953, the area was considered very suitably located for the port´s use. The whole building stock, including all machinery, was handed over to the City in March 1954. In the deed of purchase, the buildings were specified as follows: the two-story workshop building (3 069 m3), the large boatyard building (13 256 m3), the boat sheds (13 400 m3), the office building (733 m3), other buildings, the 150-ton and 40-ton docks. Pleasure boats were still stored at the boatyard when it was owned by the city. The vessels and workboats of the port were also kept and repaired at the boatyard. Some thirty boatyard employees were able to continue their jobs in the old premises, now employed by the city. The carpentry shop and the machine shop continued to operate in the area. The tasks were mainly related to general cargo hoisting, in these pre-Ro-ro times. The carpenters made casting moulds of crane parts for the foundry and the blacksmith. The boatyard hall housed the wire works and the test loading of the wires. The dredging activities, so vital to the upkeep of the Port of Turku, were also based in the boatyard area. From the 1990s onward, just a handful of workers were employed in the area. It functioned mainly as a depot, for winter storage of boats, and a base for the city workers involved with port dredging and channel marking. During the city ownership the buildings were basically maintained, but as the activities were winding down, the need for repairs grew, and the building stock began to deteriorate. The port began to consider pulling out of the property, and the city started to search for a new owner and a new purpose for the area. 93
SHIÅA SJÖHISTORISKA MUSEET ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 CLASSIC YACHTS AND YACHTING AS A PART OF BOATYARD LIFE Sphinx raced actively in Sweden and Finland in 1928, her first season after completion. Merenneito II was launched with flying colours at Åbo Båtvarf in the spring of 1928. Albertina was first launched in the summer of 1939, soon to be HARRY RELANDER’S ALBUM followed by the Winter War. 94 Wooden classic yachts are an important element of the Ruissalo Boatyard environment, its marine culture and its cultural history. To preserve this heritage, the Boatyard has done its part by locating a selection of classic yachts, built at Åbo Båtvarf, and returning them to their place of birth. The Boatyard currently owns eight boats built at the yard: the saloon cruiser Airawata (built in 1923), the 8mR Sphinx (1928), the 6mR Merenneito II (1928), the 5m Barbro (1936), the 5m Lina (1938), the 5m Marianne (1941), the tourist cruiser Tuulikki (1937) and the coastal cruiser Albertina (1939). Joakim Håkans caught the classic yacht bug when the international significance of the Turku Boatyard in its field dawned upon him. Yachts built at the Boatyard were still sailing in various parts of the world and were still racing actively. Naturally, the Boatyard had to obtain at least one yacht built on the premises. The 6mR class seemed to be the most promising. This venerable Olympic class was still active and was despite its age still attracting contemporary top sailors. Finally, the Merenneito II, built in Turku in 1928, was found in Sweden. Through Merenneito and her renovation, an enthusiasm was generated for collecting different boats into the Boatyard, representing different purposes of use and different periods of time. It was also important for the boats to be in full working order for sailing, and to be on summer display for the public, along the boatyard quaysides. 95
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KARI HEIKKILÄ KARI HEIKKILÄ RUISSALO Eero Lehtinen, who joined the company in 2018 as marketing manager, brought his yacht racing background and experience to bear in improving the organization of the classic yacht activities. The classic yacht regattas are an essential part of the Ruissalo Yard summer, being organized in close cooperation with the local yacht clubs (ASS, TPS, TTPS). Competition is tight in the classic regattas, but also fair. It is most gratifying that the boats have given youngsters the opportunity to participate in the sailing of classic yachts. Through the Sailing Center activity, the boats have been handed to young sailors for their use, thus offering them a unique opportunity to take responsibility for a classic yacht almost a hundred years old. The smaller 5m class yachts, of which the Yard currently owns three, lower the threshold of joining the activities, by simplifying transport to other racing sites, for example by trailers. The Ruissalo Yard has made its own contribution to the development of the class activities. 98 Lina and Barbro take part in all the major regattas. Weekly activities of the Youth Sailing Center. MARIA MÄKINEN, ALINA SIPPOLAINEN, ANSSI LAAKSONEN 99
IVAR RAHUMEEL IVAR RAHUMEEL KARI HEIKKILÄ IVAR RAHUMEEL IVAR RAHUMEEL RUISSALO MAINTAINING CLASSIC YACHTS REQUIRES COMMITMENT 100 A new mast was designed for the yacht and manufactured by Allspars of Great Britain. The dimensioning of the mast and designing of the new sails was done in cooperation with Timo Telkola of North Sails. After the repairs, in the summer of 2018, Merenneito returned to the sea and the racecourses. KARI HEIKKILÄ The ownership of a classic yacht essentially confers a responsibility for maintaining a valuable object and transferring a tradition to coming generations. “We have them only on loan” is a saying that yacht owners often use to describe their special relationship with their yachts. It adds to the challenge that these unique beauties, representing the top-level yacht design and craftsmanship of their day, were built as lightly as the measurement rules would allow. Hardly anyone expected these yachts to be still raced actively in the 21st century. The yachts built in the 1920s and 1930s have reached that part of their life cycle, almost without exception, where a major renovation or even a full rebuilding is necessary. The expenditures of such an undertaking cannot be justified for economic reasons only, as the funds spent on repairing the yacht may often exceed its resale value by far. Preserving a classic yacht is often a worthwhile task, by supporting the traditions of boatbuilding and craftsmanship and local entrepreneurship. Merenneito II was built at Åbo Båtvarf in 1928. She was designed by Zaké Westin, renowned for his slim, light, beautiful yachts. Her owner was Hemming A. Elfving, a consul, businessman and yacht racer from Hanko. Elfving participated in the races for the Scandinavian Gold Cup, gaining a daily third and a fourth place in this topnotch international field. Elfving kept racing throughout the 1930s and the rig underwent some modifications at the Båtvarf in the winter of 1937–1938. During WW II Merenneito II was slipped at the wharf, and in early 1950s sold to Sweden. There she was fitted with a cabin, later to be removed. The history of the ”THE MERMAID” RETURNED HOME. A NETWORK OF EXPERTS WAS CREATED FOR THE RENOVATION. yacht includes a few wreckages – such as having twice been dropped from the hook of a crane while lifting out. The previous owners have fortunately always understood the historic value of the yacht and got her back afloat after repairs. The circle was closed when Merenneito returned to the Ruissalo Boatyard in Finland, when Joakim Håkans purchased her in 2016. He was faced with the first stage of a massive renovation: the deck and most of the frames had to be renewed and the stern was extended to its original length. The renovation was started in the winter of 2016–2017 by dismantling works. The carpenters Ivar Rahumeel and Andre Aarn removed the deck and the badly worn deck beams. The ship side showed signs of collision damage and the planking was partly in bad condition. The chain plates had been fastened by iron rivets, showing signs of corrosion. The stern of the yacht had at some stage been shortened by over 50 cm, so it was decided to extend it to its original measurement. The final shape of the stern was deduced from the original drawings. The frames had been patched up by temporary repairs. 88 of the 114 frames in the yacht had to be replaced, which gives an idea of the scope of the renovation. The deck was totally rebuilt. The new deck layout was based on workable solutions found in other yachts. As a part of the renovation, all fittings of the yacht were renewed. The fittings were planned by Chris Winter, of Red Sky Craft, well experienced as a professional sailor and sailing coach. After two sailing seasons, in the winter of 2019–2020, the renovation work shifted into its next phase. The responsibility was now shouldered by the boat builder Calle Berlin, whose firm CB Craft is operating at the premises of the Ruissalo Yard. The renovation concerned the skeletal frame of the yacht: the sternpost, the keelson, and the stem were replaced, the 3–4 lowest pairs of planks were renewed, and all planking seams filled with glued-in ribs. A new rudder was also built. 101
KARI HEIKKILÄ KARI HEIKKILÄ RUISSALO Designer: Zaké Westin Designer: G. L. Stenbäck Original owner: Fredric Bernhard Theodor Möller Original owner: Birger Andersson Original engine: 80 hp, gasoline Club: ASS Present engine: Volvo TMD 70, 222 hp | Length: 14,8 m | Beam: 3,2 m | Draft: 1,2 m | Displacement: 14 t Length: 9,31m | Waterline: 5,89 m | Beam: 1,90 m | Sail area: 20,77 m2 102 KARI HEIKKILÄ FIN-2 BARBRO | 1936 | 5M RACER KARI HEIKKILÄ AIRAWATA | 1923 | CABIN CRUISER ALBERTINA | 1939 | COASTAL CRUISER FIN-12 LINA | 1938 | 5M RACER Designer: Harry Relander Designer: Jarl Lindblom Original owner: Harry Relander Original owner: Jarl Lindblom Length: 7,2 m | Waterline: 5,45 m | Beam: 2,09 m | Sail area: 22,10 m2 | Displacement: 1,39 t Club: ASS | Length: 9,35 m | Waterline: 6,24 m | Beam: 1,81 m | Sail area: 21,48 m2 103
KARI HEIKKILÄ KARI HEIKKILÄ RUISSALO FIN-4 SPHINX | 1928 | 8MR RACER Designer: Jarl Lindblom Designer: Gustaf Estlander Original owner: Hans von Rettig Original owner: Sigurd Frosterus Club: ASS Club: ASS Length: 9,11 m | Waterline: 5,71 m | Beam: 1,94 m | Sail area: 22,41 m2 Length: 15,15 m | Waterline: 9,3 m | Beam: 2,52m | Sail area: 80 m2 KARI HEIKKILÄ ANTTI WAHLSTRÖM FIN-19 MARIANNE | 1941 | 5M RACER FIN-23 MERENNEITO II | 1928 | 6MR RACER TUULIKKI | 1937 | TOURIST CRUISER Designer: Zaké Westin Designer: Jarl Lindblom Original owner: Hemming A. Elfving Original owners: M. Rainto ja V. A. Wahlström Original sail number: L-22 Original & present sail number: T-7 Length: 11,275 m | Waterline: 6,854 m | Beam: 1,835 m | Sail area: 43,0 m | Displacement: 3,6 t 2 104 Length: 11,8 m | Waterline: 8,0 m | Beam: 2,65 m | Sail area: 45 m2 | Displacement: 6,2 t 105
ERIK LÄHTEENMÄKI ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 106 107
KARI HEIKKILÄ ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 Ruissalo Yard (Ruissalon Telakka) operates within the premises of the historical boatyard, Åbo Båtvarv, which built over 5000 wooden boats during its operation from 1889–1954. Thanks to Joakim Håkans’ passion for the classic yachts and the history of the world-famous yard, eight of these beautiful crafts have returned to Ruissalo. Eight Metre Class yacht Sphinx (1928), Six Metre Merenneito II (1928), Five Metres Barbro (1936), Lina (1938) and Marianne (1941), T-Cruiser Tuulikki (1937), Coast Cruiser Albertina (1939) and Saloon Yacht Airawata (1923). Together they form an impressive fleet of wooden classic beauties. The Åbo Båtvarv Classic Fleet is not only a joy to the viewer’s eye, but they are all in active operation while at the same time being professionally maintained and looked after. Five of the sailing yachts take part in national and international regattas, while the other ones offer an opportunity to visit the stunning Turku archipelago on day sails or longer summertime journeys. Airawata can be chartered for memorable private or corporate cruises in the beautiful nearby waters. The classic yachts need a lot of TLC. The best way of keeping them in a good shape is to use them actively. They are beautiful in their moorings in the Åbo Båtvarv marina, but they love moving on the waves and stretching their sails in the shifting summer breezes. Hence, an active youth sailing program was launched in 2019 to keep the boats in their best environment while giving a great opportunity to a group of youth sailors or wannabesailors. We have built an organization where Åbo Båtvarv maintains and supports the yachts, co-ordinates the summer programs, including logistics for the yachts and training programs for the crews. Two active female sea scouts and sailing instructors have taken on the responsibility of weekly sailing sessions, Ruissalo Classic Sailing, for interested students and youngsters, mixing in some more experienced yachties from the local yacht clubs. As a result, some other 108 Alina Sippolainen (right) and Maria Mäkinen (middle) are the co- KARI HEIKKILÄ YOUTH SAILING PROGRAM & AIRISTO CLASSIC REGATTA founders of Ruissalo Sailing. Turku Boatyard hosts an annual sailing event, Airisto Classic Regatta, in co-operation with local yacht clubs. boat owners have also handed their five-metres to the operation, where the group may sail the boats on their own, according to agreed rules. This is the best way to maintain the veteran boats young and functioning while a group of younger sailors get an opportunity to sail these rare beauties and to learn to operate old-style pure sailing boats without engines or modern comfort. Åbo Båtvarv also hosts an annual sailing event, Airisto Classic Regatta, in co-operation with local yacht clubs, Airisto Segelsällskap (ASS), Turun Pursiseura (TPS) and Turun Työväen Pursiseura (TTPS). Three days of racing on sheltered Airisto waters combined with a relaxed social program on shore has become a popular tradition in the classic boat circles. Visiting yachts are sailed from Helsinki and even Sweden to be part of the action, while some smaller boats get to Ruissalo on wheels. The marina is full of action and great atmosphere, Zaké Pizzeria in the old mast shed feeds the hungry sailors and regatta dinner is served and prize giving ceremonies run in the old yard’s spacious hall. Summer theatre or jazz concert in the area can be added to the social program and new Tenlén BBQ & Smokery is the latest addition in services of the historical boatyard area. The departure of the regatta participants is also programmed as the visiting boats leave Turku together, racing through the archipelago to Gullkrona, a picturesque island and fisherman’s harbour. There, in co-operation of the new owners of Gullkrona, another memorable evening will be spent together before the fleet separates on their way to home destinations. 109
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 FC INTER TURKU – THE STORY IN BRIEF In late spring 1990 Patrik, the younger son of Stefan Håkans, along with his friends were looking for a team to continue their football hobby. The boys had played in a regional team and on a sand pitch as their home ground by a local school. However, soon they were without a team as they were too old for the former club. Turku’s football clubs of those days, TPS and ÅIFK, did not seem suitable for these boys. However, they continued to persevere in favour of continuing their football hobby. Finally, Stefan Håkans reacted in a fashion he is known for: “If it is supposed to be so difficult to find a new club, then let’s start our own.” In the summer of 1990, a group of children’s parents gathered at Håkans residency to set up a new football club in Turku. The first thing to think about was the name of the club. They did not want the name to be another traditional “Ball Club” or “IFK”. FC Turku seemed like a tempting option, but FC Turku-82, which was operating in Turku at the time, was unwilling to give up its name. Thus, ideas from the international football community were weighed up, and the new club was named FC Inter Turku. FIFA World Cup was played in Italy in the summer of 1990 just after the club was founded. At the games, Cameroon star Roger Milla captured the small football hearts of Turku. The shape, ball, star and three colors of Cameroon were chosen in the boys’ minds as a base for the FC Inter logo. The boys themselves outlined the raw version of the logo, which Stefan Håkans approved. The blue and black of the logo came from 110 the boys, red at the suggestion of the designer and former Olympian sailor, Annika Lemström. The writing of the framework was designed to reflect the values, bilingualism and internationalism that are important to the club. The blue and black colors of the jerseys were registered for the team after a selection from several proposals by the group of boys browsing ideas in dozens of football magazines. Similar jerseys can be found at some of the top European clubs, including Inter Milan. However, the shirt was not chosen from the Milan example, but the striped blue-and-black coloring hit the spot for the young boys. The need for away-jerseys only appeared later at the higher levels. Red was chosen to be the color of the away-jersey to include all the colours of the club logo in the jerseys. The very first away-jerseys were red-and-black striped in the fashion of AC Milan. However, the national football federation did not accept both jerseys to be striped and so the away-jersey became completely red. 111
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 In late spring 1992, FC Inter was already running three age groups. At the same time, it became clear that the club received very few training shifts from the local football hall. A local team playing on men’s fourth level did not need all their shifts and a deal was reached to get a few additional training shifts for the FC Inter boys. Soon FC Inter took over the entire men’s team (Nahkakuula-75) and FC Inter was running its first men’s team in addition to the three junior teams. During 1993 Inter’s first team prepared for a season with the goal set on Second Division. Stefan Håkans had noticed the style of Timo Sinkkonen as a head coach of KaaPo and a contract was signed for Sinkkonen to become FC Inter’s head coach. At the same time, another local club, TuTo was in financial difficulties and entered into talks with FC Inter on transferring players to FC Inter. In the third round of negotiations, TuTo’s representative suggested that FC Inter takes over the entire team and therewith reaches straight into the Second Division. The new-born team immediately climbed into Division One in 1994 and two years later it was time for a debut in Veikkausliiga, “the Finnish Premier League”. Since 1999 FC Inter has played on the highest level with some real highlights to its credit. The most successful season in FC Inter’s history was 2008, when the club captured both the Finnish Championship and League Cup titles. The club has also won the Finnish Cup in 2009 and 2018. During 2019 & 2020 FC Inter reached a back-to-back silver medal in Veikkausliiga while also becoming a runner-up in the Finnish Cup in 2020. 112 JUNIOR ACTIVITIES IN ALL AGE GROUPS In 1990, the club had one team, the generation of 1979. Since then, at least one new team was formed annually, and in 1996 the club had a junior team for the first time in each age group up to the A-juniors. The club did not have a coaching manager in the beginning, but the first FC Inter junior managers were Matti Raho, Kari Hautala and Pasi Hyvätti. 113
ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 INTERACTION – SUPPORTING THE YOUTH In autumn 2020, Alfons Håkans launched a new social responsibility project. After 30 years of growing and supporting the football club FC Inter Turku, it was time to reassess the aims and ways of co-operation. The club has achieved sporting success on all levels, from the youngest age groups to national soccer league, including the Finnish championship 2008, the Finnish Cup 2018, two back-to-back championship silver medals in 2019 & 2020, and many more successes. From 2021 onwards, an even stronger emphasis will be given to the upbringing of balanced and successful citizens of the future and this process was kicked off with four key words: YOUTH, EDUCATION, FUTURE and RESPONSIBILITY. It did not take long for the project to soon become known as the “Growth Story”. Children learn quickly and it is in the hands of the adults to make sure they learn the right kind of things. Hobbies, activities and extra skills enrich the basic skills and setting & reaching goals will teach the youngsters to get a grip in their lives. Sports is generally a good platform for a healthy and successful lifestyle and attitude. Winning and losing as a team, while wanting to give your best individual shot at it, produces not only good athletes but also successful individuals, employees and society members. Only very few youngsters become top players or athletes, most of us give up dreams of becoming professional sports careers rather early, and even a promising start might see a sudden end when other interests kick in, or an injury raises the bar even further. In general, we all should be trained and prepared for life while very few selected ones get the opportunity to experience a professional athlete’s career. Life is full of growth stories, both pleasant and painful ones. The InterAction program wants to proactively support those stories, and offer a healthy start for all the FC Inter Turku juniors and more. For three decades the club has been offering coaching and facilities for quality activity within the sport of football. Now we want to 114 support the children and youth to balance their time and efforts between school, free time and sports. We want to create a well-functioning triangle between home, school & hobbies, offer guidance and assistance with homework, career planning and even double career opportunities for the most talented and successful footballers. With financial support mechanisms, we can also offer this program to several families, which struggle to pay for their children’s hobbies. InterAction develops better facilities in co-operation with our Enabler Partners. A brand-new training pitch in Kupittaa Sports Park complements the unique offering for football enthusiasts. Even more children will get to train in a quality environment and in a safe and familiar location. We support the afternoon activities in the Homework Corner and at the Junior Lounge. Parents do not need to worry anymore about where their children spend the time between school and evening training. We run weekend activities for toddlers and their parents to have guided introduction in learning new things and spending time with other families on the green fields. Our school mentors contact class 8 and 9 teenagers and their parents to offer guidance in weighing options when moving into college or senior high school. Furthermore, the first team players are offered individual and group support to discuss “what am I going to do after my football career”. Many of the first team players do not realize how much spare time they have on their hands. Also, they might not be aware of the affluent offering of courses and programs which they could very well take part in while still playing and training. Ending their career, whether forced or voluntarily, will be much easier if there is already a second goal to aim at. Many companies, some of them long time supporters of FC Inter Turku and sports in general, are very keen to co-operate in mentoring the athletes and preparing them for the work life. A focused, ambitious and goal-directed athlete is a very attractive employee candidate for many employers. InterAction continues the success story of FC Inter Turku in its fourth decade. The impact of all these years of action have created a strong heritage, not only in the local football and sports, but the whole community. Now we have an even more comprehensive concept to take further and to give something unique to the young footballers and their dedicated families. 115
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ALFONS HÅKANS GROUP 1945–2021 MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF TUGS The following cavalcade of vessels include mainly the tugs owned or operated by the company and joint ventures in June 2021. This list does not include the large number of workboats and other smaller vessels owned by the group. 116 117
THETIS P-H SJÖSTRÖM HERMES ICEBREAKING AHTS ICEBREAKING AHTS Lloyd’s+100A1, Offshore/Tug/Supply Vessel, Ice Class 1A Super, LMC, UMS Lloyd’s+100A1, Offshore/Tug/Supply Vessel, Ice Class 1A Super, LMC, UMS BHP 10 880 BHP 10 880 Bollard pull 126 tons Bollard pull 126 tons Speed 16 knots Speed 16 knots Call sign 5BMX4 Call sign 5BMW4 IMO 9211576 IMO 8203141 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 71,50 m Breadth 16,00 m Draft max. 6,25 m GRT 2322 gt NRT 696 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 4 x 2720 BHP, Total 10 880 BHP Total power 10 880 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER 2 x 500 kW cpp forward + 1 x 500 kW cpp aft. DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Pacific ”triple” waterfall 275MT max.pull, 450MT static brake. Capacity 1300m 77mm tow wire and 800m 71mm each on AH-drums 118 Towing cable 76 mm, 940 m Deck crane 5 MT 8-12m Shark jaws/stern roller 1 x Triplex 300MT / 4,5 x 2,0m SWL 400MT LOA 71,50 m Breadth 16,00 m Draft max. 6,25 m GRT 2267 gt NRT 696 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 4 x MaK, 6M 453 AK Total power 10 880 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER 2 x 500 kW cpp forward + 1 x 500 kW cpp aft. DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Pacific ”triple” waterfall 275MT max.pull, 450MT static brake. Capacity 1300m 77mm tow wire and 800m 71mm each on AH-drums Towing cable 76 mm, 940 m Deck crane 5 MT 8-12m Shark jaws/stern roller 2 x Karm Fork 500MT / 4,5 x 2,0m SWL 400MT 119
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ZEUS OF FINLAND ICEBREAKING AHT DNV-GL + 1A1, TUG, E0, Ice 1A Super + Fi-Fi class 1 BHP 7 370 Bollard pull 101 tons Speed 15 knots Call sign 5BSP4 IMO 9130729 DIMENSIONS LOA 45,10 m Breadth 14,00 m Draft max. 7,77 m GRT 1 102 NRT 331 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3608 MCR Total power 7 370 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Ulstein type 90 TV 500kW – dia 1300 mm DECK LAYOUT 120 Towing/AH winch Ulstein Brattwaag 100 tons Towing cable 64 mm, 800 m swl 286 tons Deck crane TTS GPK 115-3-15 3Ton/15metr Shark jaws/stern roller Karmoy roller 3,5 m x 1,5 m 121
HELIOS S SAARI S SAARI SELENE ASD TUG ASD TUG BV • Hull • Mach • Escort Tug • Aut-UMS • Baltic Service, Ice Class 1A FS, IWS, Green passport EU Bureau Veritas, Escort Tug, Ice Class 1A BHP 5440 BHP 5440 Bollard pull 67 tons Bollard pull 67 tons Speed 14,5 knots Speed 13,5 knots Call sign ESLQ Call sign ESLT IMO 9875874 IMO 9875886 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 31,50 m LOA 31,50 m LBP 25,50 m LBP 25,50 m Breadth moulded 12,00 m Breadth moulded 12,00 m Draft 5,60 m Draft to cwl 5,60 m GT 498 GT 498 NT 149 NT 149 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516C Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516C Propeller type 2 x Konsberg US 255 CPP Propeller type 2 x Konsberg US 255 CPP Total power 5440 bhp Total power 5440 bhp AUXILIARIES AUXILIARIES 2 x Caterpillar C7.1, 129kW each DECK LAYOUT Towing winch 122 2 x Caterpillar C7.1, 129kW each DECK LAYOUT Konsberg ETWH 2250/900, Towing winch Kongsberg Marit. ETWH 2250/900 Recovery 90t / Rendering 132t / Brake hold 225t Towing lines 15+60m Dyneema 214kN MBL / 15+100m Dynema 216kN MBL Towing lines 15+60m Dyneema 214kN MBL / 15+100m Dynema 216kN MBL Towing hook aft SWL 70t Towing hook DTH 70-130.2. Safe working load 70 tons Deck crane Palfinger Marine PK18500MDS2,5 Outreach 14.5m, SWL 840kg Deck crane Palfinger Marine PK18500MDS2,5 Outreach 14.5m, SWL 840kg 123
CASTOR ORION ASD TUG ASD TUG ABS A1 Escort Vessel KM Arc4 R2 AUT1 FF3WS Escort tug BHP 5000 BHP 5 000 Bollard pull 65 tons Bollard pull 65 tons Speed 12,5 knots Speed 13,0 knots Call sign ESCV Call sign IMO 9444584 IMO DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS 34,20 m LOA 33,00 m LBP 30,46 m Breadth 12,10 m Breadth moulded 12,10 m Draft max. 4,92 m Draft to cwl 4,50 m GRT 467 GT 437 NRT 140 NT 131 Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516B Propeller type and dia 2 x CPP Aquamaster US 255CP Total power 5000 bhp AUXILIARIES Diesel generator 2 x 90 kW and 1 x 15 kW DECK LAYOUT J SJÖSTRÖM LOA PROPULSION SYSTEM 124 9679775 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516C-HD Total power 5 000 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Caterpillar 2 x 86 kW and 1 x 38 kW DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Rolls-Royce TW1800/450/AW20562H Towing cable 50 mm Samson AdSteel Blue, 150 m Tow-anchor winch Rolls-Royce, 450 kN Towing cable 54 mm steel rope, 700 m Towing cable 52 mm Samson AdSteel Blue, 150 m Deck crane Fluidmecanica HM 12-35 12 t/m Anchor 2 x 430 kg Tow winch Rolls-Royce, 200 kN Towing cable 52 mm steel rope, 700 m Deck crane 13 t/m 125
SANTA J SJÖSTRÖM PALLAS ASD TUG ASD TUG KM A Arc4 AUT1 Escort Tug Latvian Ship Register 3 063 BHP 3 840 BHP 4 963 Bollard pull 62 tons Bollard pull 60 tons Speed 13,5 knots Speed 13,2 knots Call sign ESLH Call sign YLCU IMO 9826299 IMO 9378747 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 29,80 m LOA 31,48 m Breadth 9,80 m Breadth 12,10 m Draft max. 3,80 m Draft max. 3,9 m GRT 299 GRT 445 NRT 89 NRT 133 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516C Main engine Caterpillar 3516B – HD 2×1825 kw (2448 BHO) 1600 rpm Total power 3 840 kW Total power 4 963 bhp DECK LAYOUT DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch DTM, BRAKE HOLDING FORCE 150 t ON 2nd LAYER Towing/AH winch Towing cable 2 x 52 mm, LANKOFORCE (DYNEEMA ROPE), 100 m Towing cable Deck Crane 126 HEILA, Outreach max. 12,8m, Load 2300 kg 127
STELLA H.KANTER J SJÖSTRÖM PAREMPI KUVA? RESO EI RIITÄ? ASD TUG ASD TUG Latvian Ship Register 3069 RINA BHP 4963 BHP 4 450 Bollard pull 60 tons Bollard pull 55 tons Speed 13,2 knots Speed max 12kn 520l/h, eco 9kn 180l/h Call sign YLCV Call sign ESUB IMO 9389655 IMO 9277199 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 31,48 m LOA 34,20 m Breadth 12,10 m Breadth 12,10 m Draft max. 3,9 m Draft max. 5,0 m GRT 445 GRT 439 NRT 133 NRT 131 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine Caterpillar 3516B – HD 2×1825 kw (2448 BHO) 1600 rpm DECK LAYOUT Deck Crane HEILA, Outreach max. 12,8m, Load 2300 kg Main engine 2 x Wärtsilä NSD 9L20 Total power 4450 bhp DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Rolls-Royce, 450 kN escort winch Towing cable Lankforcen Main Towing line 120m, 52mm + Pennant Gleistein X-Twin dyneema 20m, 52mm Deck crane 128 48 t/m 129
KRAFT J SJÖSTRÖM J SJÖSTRÖM P-H SJÖSTRÖM TAURUS ASD TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG Tug, Maritime, Administration of Latvia DNV + 1A1 tug ECO ICE 1A Super BHP 4 200 BHP 3 520 Bollard pull 55 tons Bollard pull 51 tons Speed 12 knots Speed 13,5 knots Call sign OIHG IMO 7618399 Call sign IMO 9190432 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 30,80 m LOA 35,48 m Breadth 9,40 m Breadth 9,24 m GRT 313 GRT 325 NRT 93 NRT 98 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516B-TA DECK LAYOUT 130 DCX 50/65 Towing cable 48 mm, 120 m Nohab F 216 V Total power 3520 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER P-H SJÖSTRÖM Towing/AH winch Main engine Brunvoll SPT VP-400 hp DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Norwinch 160 Towing cable 48 mm 1000 m Deck crane Effer 20000*3S, 4 tn at 4,0 m / 1,8 tn at 10 m 131
P-H SJÖSTRÖM HECTOR ALTAIR COMBI TUG ASD TUG DNV 1A1 ICE-1A Tug E0 RINA C+ Tug, AUT-UMS BHP 4 270 BHP 4 079 Bollard pull 50 tons Bollard pull 50 tons Speed 13 knots Speed 11,0 knots Call sign OJKQ IMO 9850513 IMO 7341166 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 22,40 m LOA 32,50 m Breadth 10.48 m Breadth 9,78 m GRT 276 Draft max. 5.20m NRT 83 GRT 333 NRT 99 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine MaK 32 C Total power 4270hp at 600rpm. BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Holming Aquamaster 350 bhp, 4 tons bp PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3512 B Total power 2 x 1 500 kW DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch DMT TW-E 250 kN Towing cable 2 x 100 m dyneema rope Deck crane DHC 5000 DECK LAYOUT 132 Towing/AH winch Karmoy winch Norway Towing cable 51 mm, 1000 m Deck crane Thrige SRW 10-33 133
SFINKSA J SJÖSTRÖM POSEIDON ASD TUG Rina I • Hull • Mach; Tug • Aut-Ums; Unrestricted navigation; Fire fighting Ship E Latvian Ship Register 3082 BHP 3 300 BHP 4 079 Bollard pull 49 tons Bollard pull 48 tons Speed 12 knots Speed 13,0 knots Call sign 5VGA4 Call sign YL2758 IMO 9755567 IMO 9638513 J SJÖSTRÖM COMBI TUG DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS 24,39 m LOA 28,80 m GRT 195 tons Breadth 9,50m NRT 58 tons GRT 277 NRT 83 PROPULSION SYSTEM J SJÖSTRÖM LOA Main engine 2 x CAT 3512C C-RATING 1 230 BKW (1 650 BHP) / 1 800 rpm PROPULSION SYSTEM Total power 3 300 bhp Main engine DECK LAYOUT DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Caterpillar 3512B – HD 2 x 1 500 kw (2039 BHO) 1 600 rpm 2 x 262,5 kg (High Holding Power) Deck crane Outreach max. 6m, Load 910kg Total 192,5 m short link chain 17,5 mm Gr 134 135
TRITON APOLLON ASD TUG ASD TUG Trafi DNV 1A1 ICE – 1A tug E0 BHP 4 000 BHP 3 600 Bollard pull 48 tons Bollard pull 45 tons Speed 13,0 knots Speed 12,5 knots Call sign OJLX Call sign OIOH IMO 9426958 IMO 7927946 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 26,00 m LOA 30,00 m Breadth 8,20 m Breadth 10,02 m GRT 200 GRT 298 NRT 60 NRT 90 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3512B Main engine Two Wärtsilä Vasa 8R22C Total power 4 000 bhp Total power 3 600 bhp DECK LAYOUT 136 Towing/AH winch RR TW 1500/150, Brake 150 t Towing cable Samson steelite blue 170 m, 44 mm 137
DUNKER P-H SJÖSTRÖM ARTEMIS ASD TUG ASD TUG DNV 1A1 ICE – 1A tug E0 BV, +AUT – UMS, ICE CLASS 1A BHP 3 600 bhp BHP 3 653 Bollard pull 45 tons Bollard pull 45 tons Speed 12,5 knots Speed 12,5 knots Call sign OIOG Call sign OJSU IMO 7927934 IMO 8701014 P-H SJÖSTRÖM DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 30,00 m LOA 30,71 m Breadth 10,02 m Breadth 10,00 m GRT 298 Draft max. 5,0 m NRT 90 GRT 297 NRT 90 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine Two Wärtsilä Vasa 8R22C PROPULSION SYSTEM Total power 3 600 bhp Main engine 2 x Ruston 6RK270M Total power 3 653 BHP DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Fwd Fluidmecanica brake holding force 125t, aft James Robertson brake holding force 90t Deck crane 138 HIAB 8.3m, SWL 0.85t 139
MARS VENTSPILS ASD TUG ASD TUG RINA LRS +100 A1 Tug lce 1B LMC UMS BHP 3 650 BHP 3 550 Bollard pull 45 tons Bollard pull 45 tons Speed 12,5 knots Speed 12,0 knots Call sign ESPS IMO 9219599 IMO 9222417 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 30,80 m LOA 32,70 m Breadth 10,20 m Breadth 10,50 m GRT 305 GRT 430 NRT NRT 129 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Wärtsilä NSD 8L20 Total power 3 650 bhp PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516B TA; 1119 kW Total power 3 550 bhp DECK LAYOUT 140 Towing/AH winch Kamewa, 150 kN Towing cable 44 mm Marlow steelite rope, 75 m Deck crane 1,5 t/ 7 m 141
VIIKARI P-H SJÖSTRÖM VEGA ASD TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG DNV-GL 1A1 Tug E0 ABS A1 Tug Fi-Fi capability AMS BHP 3 340 BHP 3 920 Bollard pull 40,4 tons Bollard pull 39 tons Speed 13,5 knots Speed 14 knots Call sign ESKU Call sign OINV IMO 7607869 IMO 8006828 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 33,30 m LOA 30,62 m Breadth 10,00 m Breadth 10,00 m GRT 286 GRT 330 NRT 85 NRT 99 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3516 DTA Main engine Wärtsilä Vasa 9 R 32 Total power 2 x 1 230 kW at 1 200 rpm Total power 3 920 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER DECK LAYOUT Deck crane Max radius 9.5 m/1.6 t 142 Rauma Repola 225 bhp 1 x HAP BT 21-4 15 tm, Max. lift capacity 6 t, DECK LAYOUT Towing cable 44 mm 530 m Deck crane Palfinger Effer 20000 2,3 tons / 8,38 m 143
P-H SJÖSTRÖM PROTECTOR P-H SJÖSTRÖM HURTIG CONVENTIONAL TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG LR *100A1 Tug, Ice class 1A, LMC, UMS DNV + 1A1 Tug ECO ICE 1A BHP 3 846 BHP 3 685 Bollard pull 38 tons Bollard pull 38 tons Speed 14 knots Speed 14,7 knots Call sign OJSN Call sign ESND IMO 7388669 IMO 6504228 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 32,50 m LOA 40,43 m Breadth 9,75 m Breadth 9,80 m GRT 357 GRT 415 NRT 107 NRT 125 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine S.E.M.T. Pielstick 6 PC2-5L Main engine Caterpillar 3608 MCR Total power 3 846 bhp at 520 rpm Total power 3 685 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Aquamaster T 400 420 bhp, 309 kW Brunvoll FU-45LTA-1225, 187kW DECK LAYOUT DECK LAYOUT Deck crane 144 Toimil 045 SWL 0,6 t Towing/AH winch Brattvaag 5 A 8-A-150 Towing cable 44 mm, 590 m, 122 mbl Deck crane Coma C 1830 N 16 tn, 3,9 tn at 4,7 m / 0,58 tn at 14,6 t /m 145
NEPTUN P LAAKSO P-H SJÖSTRÖM JUPITER ASD TUG COMBI TUG ABS Finnish Transport Safety Agency BHP 2 x 1 521 BHP 4 260 Bollard pull 37 tons BP 37 tons Speed 11,3 knots Speed 13,5 knots Call sign ESNA Call sign OIKS IMO 9287431 IMO 7917965 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 31,80 m LOA 31,57 m Breadth 10,20 m Breadth 9,80 m Draft max. 4,2m Draft max. 5,2m GRT 355 GRT 324 NRT 106 NRT 98 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x CAT 3512B Main engine Wärtsilä Vasa 9 R 32 Total power 3 041 bhp Total power 4 260 bhp DECK LAYOUT DECK LAYOUT 146 Towing/AH winch Rolls Royce 100kN Towing/AH winch Brattwaag Towing cable keula 108m/perä 220m+700m wire Towing cable 44 mm 750 m Deck crane Palfinger 13,3t/m 147
ARKTURUS J SJÖSTRÖM CALYPSO ASD TUG ASD TUG DNV/GL +1A1 TUG ICE (1A) R1 RINA BHP 3 150 BHP 2 850 Bollard pull 36 tons Bollard pull 35 tons Speed 12,1 knots Speed 11,5 knots Call sign OJSY Call sign ES2642 IMO 9304899 IMO 9375331 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 25,86 m LOA 19,00 m Breadth 8,94 m Breadth 9,00 m GRT 198 GRT 144 NRT 59 NRT 44 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x CAT 3512B TA/B Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3512 B Total power 3 150 bhp Total power 2 850 bhp DECK LAYOUT DECK LAYOUT 148 Towing/AH winch Rolls Royce in bow Towing/AH winch Rolls-Royce, 105 t. Deck crane Effer 1,1 tons at 7,8 meters Towing cable 44 mm Marlow Steelite rope, 200m Deck crane Palfinger PC2300M 2.1 t/m 149
SATURN URAN ASD TUG ASD TUG RINA Det Norske Veritas, 1A1 R4 Tug ICE-1A, E0 BHP 2 850 BHP 2 850 Bollard pull 35 tons Bollard pull 35 tons Speed 11,5 knots Speed 11,5 knots Call sign ES2607 IMO 9315422 IMO 9315410 DIMENSIONS LOA 19,10 m LOA 19,10 m Breadth 9,00 m Breadth 9,00 m GRT 144 GRT 144 NRT 44 NRT 44 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3512 B Total power 2 850 bhp PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x Caterpillar 3512 B Total power 2 850 bhp DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch Rapp Hydema, 350 kN Towing/AH winch Rapp Hydema, 350 kN Towing cable 44 mm Marlow steelite rope, 200 m Towing cable 44 mm Marlow steelite rope, 200 m Deck crane 2,1 t/m Deck crane 2,1 t/m DECK LAYOUT 150 DIMENSIONS 151
ATLAS PORIN KARHU CONVENTIONAL TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG RINA DNV + 1A1 ICE-1A Tug BHP 3 410 BHP 3 520 Bollard pull 33 tons Bollard pull 32 tons Speed 13 knots Speed 13,5 knots Call sign ESRN Call sign OIHF IMO 7330337 IMO 7422386 DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS LOA 32,50 m LOA 31,12 m Breadth 9,50 m Breadth 9,50 m GRT 331 GRT 289 NRT 100 NRT 87 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine Ruston 12ATCM Main engine Nohab F 216 V Total power 3 410 bhp Total power 3 520 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Ulstein 250 bhp 1 Thwart. FP thruster DECK LAYOUT DECK LAYOUT 152 Towing/AH winch 300 kN Towing cable 38 mm, 900 m Deck crane 5 t/m Towing cable 44 mm, 500 m 153
P-H SJÖSTRÖM ISO-PUKKI P-H SJÖSTRÖM JASON CONVENTIONAL TUG Finnish Transport Safety Agency Finnish Transport Safety Agency BHP 2 180 BHP 2 000 Bollard pull 22 tons Bollard pull 20 tons Speed 12,3 knots Speed 12,5 knots Call sign OFST Call sign OGVG IMO 6818863 DIMENSIONS P-H SJÖSTRÖM LOA P-H SJÖSTRÖM CONVENTIONAL TUG 29,75 m DIMENSIONS Breadth 7,74 m LOA 30,50 m GRT 175 Breadth 9,03 m NRT 53 GRT 264 NRT 88 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine Wärtsilä 12V22 PROPULSION SYSTEM Total power 2 180 bhp Main engine 2 x Wärtsilä 814 TK Total power 2 000 bhp diesel electric BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Aquamaster T 160 250 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Brunvoll 360 bhp DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch 154 Lidan 15 ton 155
HARALD J SJÖSTRÖM P-H SJÖSTRÖM HAMLET CONVENTIONAL TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG Finnish Transport Safety Agency Finnish Transport Safety Agency BHP 1 600 BHP 1 200 Bollard pull 18 tons Bollard pull 15,7 tons Speed 12 knots Speed 11,5 knots Call sign OIWX Call sign OIXZ DIMENSIONS LOA DIMENSIONS 28,55 m LOA 23,70 m Breadth 8,13 m Breadth 7,17 m GRT 178 GRT 114 NRT 54 NRT 31 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 2 x MAN Main engine Nohab SF 18 VS Total power 1 600 bhp Total power 1 200 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Ulstein 45 TV 269 kW DECK LAYOUT Towing/AH winch 156 Steen 15 ton 157
P-H SJÖSTRÖM TORVIK P-H SJÖSTRÖM ISBJÖRN CONVENTIONAL TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG TRAFICOM Estonian Maritime Administration BHP 1 500 BHP 1 440 Bollard pull 15 tons Bollard pull 15 tons Speed 11,5 knots Speed 11,5 knots Call sign OJFM Call sign ESKW IMO 6502074 DIMENSIONS LOA LOA 22,16 m Breadth 6,20 m Breadth 8,15 m Draft max. GRT 159 GRT 84 NRT 48 NRT 26 PROPULSION SYSTEM PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine Mak 6 Z 451 AK Main engine Wärtsilä Vaasa 824 TS Total power 1 500 bhp Total power 1 440 bhp BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER DECK LAYOUT 158 DIMENSIONS Towing cable 38 mm, 900 m Deck crane 5 t/m Volvo 150 bhp 159
P-H SJÖSTRÖM JOONAS P-H SJÖSTRÖM PRIMUS CONVENTIONAL TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG Finnish Transport Safety Agency Finnish Transport Safety Agency BHP 1 000 BHP 550 Bollard pull 13 tons Bollard pull 7 tons Speed 10 knots Speed 10 knots Call sign OGQM Call sign OI-4812 IMO 6524709 DIMENSIONS LOA 15,80 m LOA 24,20 m Breadth 5,05 m Breadth 7,35 m GRT 33 Draft max. 4.00m NRT 10 GRT 117 NRT 36 PROPULSION SYSTEM 160 DIMENSIONS Main engine Wärtsilä 814 TK Total power 1 000 bhp PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine 1 x Cummins Total power 550 bhp 161
LEO J SJÖSTRÖM VOIMA CONVENTIONAL TUG CONVENTIONAL TUG LR *100A1 Tug, Ice class 1A, LMC, UMS BHP 800 DIMENSIONS LOA 23.40 m Breadth 6.45 m BHP 3846 Bollard pull 38 tons Speed 14 knots Call sign OJTZ IMO 7363970 DIMENSIONS LOA 32,50 m Breadth 9,75 m GT 357 NT 107 PROPULSION SYSTEM Main engine S.E.M.T. Pielstick 6 PC2-5L Total power 3 846 bhp at 520 rpm BOWTHRUSTER AND STERNTHRUSTER Brunvoll FU-45LTA-1225, 187kW DECK LAYOUT Deck crane 162 Toimil 045 SWL 0,6 t 163
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ALFONS HÅKANS Based on several decades of local experience, Alfons Håkans provides you with safe and efficient year around towage for all vessels and in all situations in Finnish and Estonian ports. We have been the most trusted harbor towage company in Finland since 1945. We have provided our high-quality services also in Estonia since 2004. Our services are available even in Latvia via PKL Flote, a Latvian tugboat company part of Alfons Håkans group. Tens of thousands of harbor towages where the skills, competence, communication, and experience have been put to the test, speak for themselves. Quality is assured as we hold ISO and ISM certification. Our crews are local and highly professional and the close collaboration we have with our customers, pilots, linesmen and port authorities ensures we work to fulfil our commitment to our customers. WE MAKE IT HAPPEN when it matters the most to you – in rough conditions, when time is short, and safety is not to be compromised.
ALFONS HÅKANS MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF TUGS It all started more than 100 years ago, in the province of Österbotten (Pohjanmaa) in Finland, where Johannes Håkans and his father Abraham together with a partner established a sawmill in the village of Petsmo. This sawmill marked the beginning of entrepreneurship in the Håkans family, which has continued for generations. The towage company Alfons Håkans was formed in 1945 and over the years the story of the company has had many ups and downs. Today Alfons Håkans is a leading tugboat company in the northern Baltic Sea area. The tugboat operations form the backbone of their business activities, which also include a historical boatyard and a football club.