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Among other interesting projects,
Deltamarin signed a deal with Louis Dreyfus
Armateurs and Höegh Autoliners to design
special ships for the transportation of
Airbus sections, the first one being Ville de
Bordeaux. Since then pure car and truck
carriers, so-called PCTCs, have become one of
Deltamarin’s main products.
Deltamarin’s strides with
internationalisation were acknowledged
in its native Finland, as the company was
awarded the Internationalisation Award of the
President of the Republic in 2000. The award
is granted each year to Finnish companies
that have gained international success, and to
the communities behind them.
“The companies honoured are more than
companies that deal in exports – their method
of operating is international,” said President
Martti Ahtisaari in his address, emphasising
a holistic approach to dealing internationally.
“Yet despite their international approach,
these companies have their roots deep in
Finnish expertise and society.”
Jukka Laiterä commented on this
perspective in an interview with Turun
Sanomat: “Internationality and trade outside
Finnish borders has always been the
foundation of our activities. It feels good to
know that others have noticed it as well.”
“Working internationally has always been
the lifeblood of our company,” Alf Björkman
told the Finnish Varsinais-Suomen yrittäjä
magazine following the award. “After all, ships
sail the Seven Seas too. In order for us to be
international, our company has to be a certain
size. This requires us to make a decent profit.
We have to sell solutions, not just capacity.”
That year, 85% of Deltamarin’s sales were
exports, the primary markets being
Germany, Norway and the United States.
One of the biggest design projects at the
time was the passenger cruise ships at Litton
Ingalls shipyard1. Deltamarin had signed
a contract together with another Finnish
design company Elomatic Ltd to design two
cruise ships for this American shipyard. The
250-metre cruise ships would be the largest
passenger ships ever built in the United States,
and the first cruise ships in 40 years. Other
big projects were the Superfast vessels built in
1 At the time, the US political elite had made the decision to focus on building cruise ships. However, the Litton Ingalls
passenger cruise ship project was never completed. As a consequence of the 9/11 terror attack in 2001, the cruise market
collapsed. The shipowner, United States Lines/American Classic Voyages filed for bankruptcy in October 2001. The
unfinished vessel was sold to NCL and later completed at Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven.