Cruise ship building is a true test of logistics skills

Meyer Turku shipyard is a busy place. The surroundings of the Icon Class ship Legend of the Seas, which is slated to be completed next summer, are swarming with workers, forklifts and trucks. The assembly of the hull of the next Icon 4 cruise ship has also begun.

We stand observing the shipbuilding material flow along with representatives of Meyer Turku’s central warehouse, namely Saija Bezuidenhout, Head of Group Logistics, Sami Laiho, Logistics Coordinator and Marko Linke, Head of Outfitting Logistics. They explain that the building of the world’s most advanced cruise ships requires a tremendous amount of logistics.

“We receive about 15 heavy goods vehicles and a total of about 150 transports per day. Our internal logistics transports from the warehouse to production or the ship total 10,000 per month. The building process involves around 15,000 different warehouse items, from small washers to main engines, with as many as 1,900 collection batches per day”, Bezuidenhout calculates.

On this particular morning in September, there are approximately three thousand people here employed in this shipbuilding process.

“By the final phase of the ship completion, there will be up to 7,000 employees involved”, Laiho said.

Ships are built in blocks

Cruise ships are built in blocks. They are outfitted as fully as possible, since working on land is much easier and faster than working from inside the ship. In addition to Turku, the steel blocks are also manufactured in Poland, Lithuania and Estonia and transported to Meyer Turku’s own port.

“The finished blocks are connected together into bigger blocks as large as an apartment building, which are then transferred to the ship with the help of a gantry crane”, Laiho says.

Once the blocks are in the ship, the individual cabin modules are attached to them.

“Just yesterday, we ordered another batch of cabin modules from Piikkio Works. They’ll be put into place today. We receive 150–300 cabins per week”, Linke adds.

There is strength in the network

Bezuindenhout describes Meyer Turku’s production and logistics process as being extremely refined and under continuous further development.

“One essential aspect is, for example, our networked approach; the close co-operation with our partners and subcontractors.”

Meyer Turku’s own central warehouse is around the same size as Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium and could accommodate three Turku Castles. It is not enough on its own, however, for all the storage needs.

“Our partners play an important role in ensuring that the right material is in the right place at the right time as cost-effectively as possible”, Bezuindenhout sums up. “We can’t do all this on our own”, she adds.

The Port of Turku is an important partner

The Port of Turku is also an important partner for Meyer Turku.

“We receive materials from all over the world through the port. In addition, we value the fact that we are able to store large special items in the port, from lifeboats to steam turbines. The goods are transferred to us as production progresses to the stage at which we need them”, Laiho says.

He adds that Meyer Turku co-operates with all the operators in the port, including, for example, the Turku Free Zone Company.

“The Port of Turku also provides us with lifting services in the port area.”

A unique co-operation agreement

But there is still at least one thing that should be mentioned. Just before our interview in September, the Royal Caribbean shipping company announced its plan to continue its co-operation with Meyer Turku shipyard until 2036.

“Christmas came early for us this year. It feels really great. It proves we’ve done things right and the work of the Meyer Turku personnel is clearly valued and recognised”, Bezuidenhout shares.

“This is unique. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, but never before have such long-term co-operation plans ever been secured this definitively”, Linke says.

Text: Matti Välimäki
Photos: Markku Koivumäki