The Laaksonens have docked more than a thousand vessels in Pansio
The Pansio Harbour is home to a repair shipyard where almost all commuter ferries, cable ferries and river boats operating in nearby waters have visited. RMR Oy Merirakenne has completed a wide range of various projects, such as salvaging a sunken Baltic herring fishing boat from the bottom of the sea.
In January 2025, the frame of a ship café was lifted in the air in the Pansio Harbour. RMR Oy Merirakenne had designed, cut and welded it together in the long indoor hall next door. The frame was hauled out of the hall and lifted with a crane to the fore of the passenger compartment of commuter ferry L/A Sterna that was waiting on berth. For a moment the café was hanging on wires and then landed in exactly the right place.
“This a project of around three months. There is not much time, but we always keep to the schedules”, Mikko Laaksonen, Managing Director of RMR Oy Merirakenne, says and sighs when he takes a look at the calendar.
There has been lots of work this winter. The company handles on average 20–30 dockings per year, but sometimes the number of projects for one year is higher. There is a wide range of them in the order portfolio of RMR Oy Merirakenne which operates in the Port of Turku area. Ships have been modified to make them smaller or larger. One completely new ship was also welded together from parts in the assembly hall.
“All of them come with their own challenges, and that’s actually what makes the work interesting.”
Fishing boat converted into a river boat
”The first big project in repair docking was converting a deck cargo pontoon into an oil product barge in 1990. We converted a Norwegian car ferry into a commuter ferry suited to the Utö route by cutting one metre away from the outer sides and by lowering the cockpit by one metre”, Mr Laaksonen says.
That way the vessel’s gross register tonnage fell below the required limit, and the regulation became looser. In addition, the vessel became more stable and practical. The Laaksonens operated commuter traffic with it for ten years.
In summer 1991, RMR Oy Merirakenne was requested to empty the cargo of a partially submerged Baltic herring fishing boat on the north side of the Åland islands. They hauled in the smelly load and took it away. When they returned after the Midsummer, the fishing boat had sunk.
“I bought some lifting bags to bring the vessel back to the surface. We repaired the ship and it is still in use as restaurant boat named Papa Joe moored in the River Aura.
The most common assignment of RMR Oy Merirakenne is maintenance docking of a ship; inspection of the propulsion system, propeller shaft and rudder. The company repairs the bottom, treats the surface and replaces anodes. Sulphur scrubbers are also installed regularly.
35 years on lease
Founded by Mikko’s father Eero Laaksonen, RMR Oy Merirakenne has its roots in Rymättylä where Eero repaired and built aids to navigation already in the late 1970s. After many twists and turns in 1990, Mr Laaksonen rented a slipway and a hall from the Port of Turku, which turned out to be a good decision.
“It’s difficult to find a shipyard area on the sea shore. I don’t know how common it is that a shipyard operates on land rented from a city, but I don’t believe it’s very common”, Mikko contemplates.
This is RMR Oy Merirakenne’s 35th operating year in Pansio. They intend to stay there in the future as well, with plans to build a sandblasting facility, and the lease agreement with the Port of Turku was recently extended by five years.
RMR Oy Merirakenne
- Servicing, repair and docking of vessels.
- Employs around 20 people and also uses subcontractors e.g. for ship interiors.
- Dry dock has room for a 50 metres long and 10 metres wide vessel of ca 450 tonnes with a draught of around 3 metres.
- Has performed over 1,000 dockings.
Text: Sari Järvinen
Photos: Sari Järvinen & Mikko Laaksonen’s photo album
The biggest shipyard for wooden ships in the Nordic countries was built 80 years ago
The first concrete pillars of the shipyard on the shore of Pansionlahti bay were cast in 1945 on land owned by the City of Turku. The newly established Oy Laivateollisuus Ab (Late) was assigned to build 46 different wooden schooners of 300 tonnes. They were part of Finland’s heavy war reparations to the Soviet Union. Although there were strong shipbuilding traditions in the Turku region, nobody was building wooden ships of this size class anymore after the war. Nevertheless, a 177 metres long timber-lined hall rose on land owned by the City of Turku, with room to build up to eight schooners at the same time. It became the biggest shipyard for wooden ships in the Nordic countries.
Once the schooners had been delivered as war reparations, commercial shipbuilding operations commenced. In the 1960s, for example, 15 cable ferries were built in Pansio, and one of them had to be delivered to Lake Saimaa. The problem was solved so that Eero Laaksonen, then lieutenant in Coast Guard, together with Urho Nummelin and Valde Rantala sailed the ferry to Lake Saimaa. It was slow going, but eventually the ferry and its crew reached their destination.
In 1973, Late was sold to Valmet Oy, then to Wärtsilä, and finally in 1989 shipbuilding operations ended in Pansio. At present, a repair shipyard of RMR Oy Merirakenne operates in the facility.
Text: Sari Järvinen
Source: Viljo Lunden: ”Laivarakentajana vuosina 1945-1988” (shipbuilder from 1945-1988)
