Helsingfors Skeppsdocka

Helsingfors Skeppsdockas Aktiebolag was a shipbuilding company that operated out of Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, between 1865 and 1894.

The ownership was transferred to Tampere Linen and Iron Industry, which had to complete the investments totalling over one million Finnish marks.

Until the turn of 1880s Helsingfors Skeppsdocka had not reached a satisfactory level of profitability, and the parent company decided to sell it despite significant loss.

Despite a fairly good order intake, Helsingfors Skeppsdocka fell into bankruptcy in 1894 due to difficulties in funding arrangements.

Until the early 19th century, Finnish merchant ships were built by number of small yards, Ostrobothnia being the predominant shipbuilding area.

[2] While Helsinki had become capital of Finland in 1812, its significance as seafaring and shipbuilding centre remained low, until railway lines to Hämeenlinna and Saint Petersburg were built.

[3] Industrialist Adolf Törngren left an application for starting a shipyard and engineering works in Helsinki magistrate on 2 August 1864.

After an assent of the city elders, the magistrate decided on 14 September to lease the area to Törngren for a 500 silver marks' annual sum.

Törngren made an arrangement, after which the company ownership was transferred to Tampereen Pellava- ja Rauta-Teollisuus ("Tampere Linen and Iron Industry"), to which he owed 435,000 marks.

Tampere Linen and Iron Industry tried to sell the company to the Imperial Russian government, but the offer was rejected.

Next plan was creating a shipbuilding company with one million marks' capital and selling the majority of shares to Russian owners, but the potential buyers wanted to start production of rolling stock, for which the yard's premises were not suitable.

The gate launching ceremony took place on 13 November 1867 at 2−4 pm; the yard was decorated by flags and a large crowd witnessed the event.

[4] Shipbuilding was in upswing in the 1870s and Helsingfors Skeppsdocka built total 16 steam launches and tugboats with iron hull and a number of wooden barges, rescue boats and other vessels.

The company faced difficult times during the following two years; a significant cause was 54,000 marks' loss from four tug steamers delivered to the Russian Admiralty.

By now the owner had come to conclusion, that the company will not reach a such profitability that it could repay the investment, and started to consider ways to get rid of the shipbuilder despite the losses.

In the meantime, the owner negotiated with three prospective purchasers for the business: a Saint-Petersburg-base British trading house, an unnamed domestic person and an agent.

An analysis presented in an extraordinary general meeting on 11 September 1879 suggested that the engineering works including the inventory could be sold for 483,000 marks, whereas the dock shall be regarded valueless.

[4] After taking over the company, Eklund started to improve on the premises; many buildings were wooden and inappropriately planned, because the previous owner had not wanted to invest more on the plant than necessary.

The state gave him a 100,000-marks' loan to fund the improvements; in addition to this, Eklund had to carry the 200,000 marks' liabilities which were transferred to him when buying the yard.

Situation turned worse in the early 1890s, when Helsingfors Skeppsdocka fell into trouble due to difficulties in loan arrangements.

The new company was called Aktiebolaget Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad ("Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works Ltd").