seatec - Finnish marine technology review 2/2019 | Page 30

O ne is not hard pressed to find the ness. With the shipbuilding industry as its Recently, Turku has also evolved into a cen- number one maritime hub in Finland. calling card, the Turku Region has a long tre for the global development of intelli- Turku – located in southwestern Finland – history of know-how in also offshore and gent, autonomous ships. is the most important production cluster Arctic technologies. In addition, the future will be very much realised in the Blue Industry Park of Finnish maritime industry: nearly one- third of the country’s maritime industry SHIPYARD REIGNS SUPREME which aims to become the leading pro- companies are located in the Turku eco- In fact, the shipbuilding tradition in Turku duction and innovation cluster of mari- nomic region. dates back to the 18th century. Today, the time expertise in Europe. Located just off There’s a strong co-operation net- industry employs 8,000 people in about the Turku shipyard, the Blue Industry Park work – known as MaritimeTurku – that 400 companies. The engine of the Mari- wants to serve companies of all sizes and has been built around the maritime know- timeTurku network is the shipyard, Meyer to strengthen the industrial clusters in the how and innovation activities, providing Turku, whose orderbook extends to 2024. Turku Region. also a wide range of services to the R&D Other important companies include e.g. As of yet, however, the Park exists needs of the industry. Kongsberg Maritime Finland, Mobimar, mostly on the drawing board. While zon- Admares and Wärtsilä. ing is presently being finetuned, the out- The network approach is the key here, since the global market challenges Academic edge is provided by Univer- look is to start the construction of the Park of the future require continuous renewal sity of Turku, Turku University of Applied in spring 2020. Currently, there is already and new exploration in research and busi- Sciences, and Åbo Akademi University. excavation in the area. 30 seatec 2/2019