Marinetek Finland Has Started the Renovation and Expansion of the NJK Valkosaari Marina
NJK chose Marinetek Finland and Cedercreutz Architects to assist with the design of the marina. Marinetek Finland was chosen to manufacture and deliver the new marina structures. Marinetek's long-term partner Suomen Vesityö is responsible for the installation and anchoring of the pontoons.
Valkosaari Marina and pavilion are an important part of the maritime landscape of southern Helsinki. It has more than a hundred years of history as the marina for the NJK, and the club itself was founded as early as 1861.
The development of the Valkosaari Marina emphasizes the importance of preserving the valuable cultural environment that has formed over time. Large and small sailing and motor boats have been a part of Valkosaari and the harbor environment of Helsinki for almost 150 years. The new marina is designed so that the wave attenuating pontoons on the outer perimeter protect the boats in the marina from waves. The curved breakwater design blends beautifully into their surroundings.
The marina’s floating pontoons are manufactured at Marinetek's Vantaa factory and consist of sturdy, 4-meter-wide breakwater pontoons and 3- and 4-meter-wide heavy-duty concrete pontoons. Marinetek’s 8–12 m long steel mooring fingers are used for mooring the boats. The project also includes renovation and reorganization of the existing piers.
The capacity of the new marina, which will be built in stages, will be 200–250 berths, while the current harbor offers berths for only 70 boats. With the expansion, the number of berths for club members and guests will increase considerably.
Renovation of the marina has already started by dismantling the old piers and the installation of new piers is currently underway. The installation work continues until the sea freezes and continues immediately after ice melts in the spring. The first phase of the new marina, which is being implemented now, will be completed in the spring of 2025.
Jeremy Otis appointed Project Manager at Marinetek North America
Having grown up in the dock-building industry, Jeremy brings over 11 years of hands-on experience in all aspects of dock fabrication. His expertise spans from Project Management using Smartsheet to Drafting with AutoCAD, steel construction and design techniques, CSI structural analysis (SAP2000), and familiarity with ASCE manuals and ADA regulations.
Jeremy is also skilled in logistics management, project estimation, planning, resource coordination, and overseeing design. He excels in building client relationships and delivering exceptional customer service from concept to project completion.
As we continue to expand our North American business and take on new projects, we are thrilled to have Jeremy’s expertise driving our success. With a strong focus on timely project delivery and growing sales, we look forward to his contributions.
EXTENSIVE MARINA EXTENTION TO INKOO, FINLAND
Marinetek Finland has completed the delivery and installation of a large marina extension in Inkoo, Finland. The massive marina has now over 800 protected marina berths and the project is the largest marina project in Finland that has been completed in one phase.
The new marina consists of three main docks, the middle one of which is T-shaped with the top of the T protecting the marina basin from waves. In addition, a separate floating Breakwater pontoon unit was installed to give additional protection to the marina.
The extension of almost 500 berths consists close to 1.1 kilometers (1200 yards) of pontoons, the longest continuous dock being 200 meters (220 yards) long.
Built with the Marinetek’s massive Premier, Super Yacht and Breakwater concrete pontoons, the docks offer stabile access to the boats and secure mooring.
The berths have boat booms and walk-on fingers depending on the boat size, with side mooring options reserved for the larger vessels. The docks are equipped with power, water and light pedestals and modern safety stations.
The Inkoo marina is conveniently located in less than an hour’s drive west from the capitol city Helsinki and offers easy access to the vast archipelago on the south coast of Finland. In addition to the private berths, the marina also has 80 berths available for visitors and some rental berths.
Marinetek Factory Switches to LED Lights
Out with the old and in with the new!
As a part of Marinetek’s sustainability strategy, we switched the lights at the Marinetek concrete pontoon factory in Finland to LED lights which will reduce the electricity consumption.
The new LED lights use 65% less energy than the old lights. In a large production hall with a high ceiling and dozens of powerful lights, this has a major effect on the total use of energy at the factory.
The new lights also create a brighter, more consistent lighting into the production facility than the old lights, improving the working conditions.
The old lights were recycled according to regulations.
Marinetek’s environmental strategy aims for sustainability and the reduction of the carbon footprint and use of energy throughout the value chain without sacrificing product quality.
Appointments to the Marinetek Management Team
Marinetek is strengthening its position in the home markets according to the strategy – and at the same time expanding its global presence by investing in key people and positions in the Group to speed up the process and to serve a broader customer base.
“Marinetek is on a growth path and to further accelerate the growth and strategy execution, we have reorganizations and new appointments to the Marinetek Management Team”, says Santeri Suoranta, CEO of Marinetek Group.
“Marinetek is already the global leader in concrete pontoon technology and premium marina design, and with our extensive organization around the world we have room to grow both in the home and selected new markets. These new appointments will strengthen Marinetek in the home markets, increase Marinetek’s engineering power and support the growth strategy.”
To support the growth strategy Marinetek has appointed following new members to its Management Team.
Valtteri Vauramo appointed Managing Director of Marinetek Finland
Valtteri Vauramo has been appointed as Managing Director of Marinetek Finland. He started in the position on October 1st, 2023.
In his new position as the Managing Director, Valtteri replaces Markku Rantanen. Markku is one of the two founders Marinetek and has been with the company for almost 30 years. Markku continues to work at Marinetek Finland as a Director, focusing his time on marina projects and sales for the domestic market in Finland as well as large scale export projects.
”I’m happy to take the helm at Marinetek Finland as the company is in great shape, thanks to Markku’s excellent work. I’m also happy to continue working with Markku”, says Vauramo.
Valtteri is very experienced marina industry specialist. He has worked with Marinetek in various roles before for over ten years, most recently as the Director for Central and Northern Europe. He has also worked for over a decade in the marina construction industry in the Middle East and Australia.
Jukka Tukia appointed CFO of Marinetek Group
Jukka Tukia has been appointed as CFO of Marinetek Group and member of the Group’s Management Team. He started in his position on September 25th, 2023. Tukia joins Marinetek from Niemi Palvelut Oy, where he worked as CFO.
Jukka holds a M.Sc. (Economics) degree from the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland. Jukka has extensive knowledge over wide range of industries. He has 10 years of M&A consulting experience from KPMG and Ernst & Young (EY) and over 12 years of CFO, HR Director and Business Controller experience from service, retail, logistics and construction industries in Finland.
“I am happy to have Jukka on board. He has extensive experience from M&A transactions, developing business control and structured processes. Advancing our financial processes and tools is key for us to improve manoeuvrability and steering of our operations,” says Santeri Suoranta, CEO of Marinetek Group.
“I am delighted to join Marinetek that is a true global leader in the marina industry and has strong presence across all the continents of operation. Marinetek’s track record of building reliable high-performance marinas and developing the pontoon technology is excellent. I’m looking forward to working in the project business environment and being part of Marinetek’s growth,” says Tukia.
Jussi Boman appointed Engineering Director of Marinetek Group
Jussi Boman has been appointed as Engineering Director of Marinetek Group and member of the Group’s Management Team. He started in this position on September 11th, 2023.
Jussi holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and is an experienced product designer. Jussi is not a new face at Marinetek: before his past two years at Metso, where he worked as Engineering Manager. Jussi has worked for almost a decade at Marinetek in various engineering roles, including leading the engineering team.
“I’ve been designing marinas, pontoons and accessories for most of my career, and they are very familiar to me. The past two years at Metso working on processing technology were very interesting and educational. I’m confident that the experience can be beneficial at Marinetek as well”, says Boman.
In his role as Engineering Director, Jussi follows Henri Markus who has been appointed Technical Director of Marinetek Group.
Marinetek Partners with Water Revolution Foundation
With already several on-going research and development projects focusing on CO2 emission reductions in products and production, we are putting even more emphasis on environmental sustainability by partnering with Water Revolution Foundation.
Water Revolution Foundation is a Netherlands-based Public Benefit Organization that focuses on driving sustainability in the superyacht industry through collaboration and innovation, leading the way towards neutralizing its ecological footprint and preserving the world’s precious oceans.
Marinetek is the first pontoon and floating solutions provider to partner with Water Revolution Foundation. Our first goal in this partnership is to speed up our research projects to reduce the CO2 emissions of our concrete pontoons – both in materials we use and the production methods and energy used.
In a larger scale, the long-term target for partnering with Water Revolution Foundation is to be part of the solution for healthy oceans that are crucial for the planet’s wellbeing. This will include studies on how to build marinas with floating pontoons and breakwaters with minimal effects on the marine environment and hopefully even with positive effects on marine biodiversity.
In our current sustainability projects, we are looking to reduce the CO2 emissions related to our concrete pontoons by searching for ways to replace the cement used in concrete and the galvanized steel used in the pontoon’s reinforcements. We are also changing the lights at our facilities to LED to reduce the use of electricity and switching to green energy sources to further reduce our carbon footprint.
Learn more about Water Revolution Foundation:
https://waterrevolutionfoundation.org
Marinetek’s Custom Design Access Bridge Featured in Day of Architecture and Engineering in Germany
Marinetek took part in a pontoon design project to create a special bridge for disabled access to a floating dock.
In the port facility of the Ostsee-Marine-Service in Kappeln, Germany, the existing southern dock was converted to enable use by people with restricted mobility. A custom-designed access bridge to the pontoon dock now allows access for the disabled and is currently one of a kind in the Schlei inlet.
Marinetek cooperated with Philipp Zülsdorff of Waterkant Ingenieure GbR to overcome the challenges this project presented.
In order to create the accessibility to the dock, an existing jetty had to be partly dismantled and then supplemented with a ramp construction including new floating pontoon elements.
The special challenge in this project was to develop the structure in such a way that it can adapt to the changing water levels. The moving elements of the structure couldn’t form any obstacles, and the incline of the ramp couldn’t be too great at any water level.
The goal could only be achieved by creating a floating support pontoon for the long access bridge, which can move alongside the main pontoon. A custom pile guide was developed specifically for this project. It allows the support pontoon to slide alongside the main pontoon according to the water level without sacrificing stability and safety.
The successful outcome of the project is featured in the Day of Architecture and Engineering on June 24–25, 2023 in Germany as an example of exceptional engineering to overcome a design challenge.
For more information:
Read more about Marinetek’s design services:
Valtteri Vauramo appointed Director, Central and Northern Europe
Valtteri Vauramo is a graduate engineer, and he holds a master’s degree from Helsinki University of Technology (2005) in engineering. He has 22 years of experience in the marina industry worldwide.
Valtteri is very experienced in all aspects of marina, breakwater and floating structure construction and has participated in every stage of marina development from product development to sales, production, installation and after sales.
Before leaving Finland ten years ago, Valtteri worked with Marinetek Group and Marinetek Finland for over 10 years in various roles. At Marinetek his career development followed the rapid growth of the company. At the time, Vauramo was deeply involved in all Marinetek’s marina design and construction projects.
In 2012, Valtteri relocated with his family to the United Arab Emirates to work as a Business Unit Manager for a local marina construction company. In 2020 Vauramo relocated again, this time to Australia’s Gold Coast where he worked as General Manager and Senior Engineer at a local marina company, rotomoulding company and industrial floatation branch.
After living for over ten years as an expatriate, Vauramo has now returned home to Finland.
“We are really happy to have Valtteri on board with us with his wide knowledge on marina business & technology and his excellent personal touch. He will be a vital part of the next steps of Marinetek” says Santeri Suoranta, CEO of Marinetek Group
Valtteri brings a wealth of international experience in the marina construction business back to Marinetek, and the ten years spent overseas have well prepared him for any possible challenges the industry can provide.
Markku Rantanen, Managing Director of Marinetek Finland: “I’ve worked with Valtteri before, and we did some great things together. I am very excited to work with him again and get some awesome things done again!”
Marinetek Breakwater Pontoon Almost as Old as the Company
The Marinetek breakwater pontoon in the Azores has taken some beatings from storms, but is still protecting the marina as designed.
Our friend Sam Forsbom of DB Marina in Finland was sailing the Atlantic and visited Praia da Vitoria in the Azores in December 2022. Sam sent us photos of a breakwater pontoon that Marinetek built and installed to protect the inner marina in 1995 – only a year after the company was founded. Praia da Vitoria was the fifth project for the young company. For this breakwater pontoon, three 16 meter long breakwater units were produced in Finland and transported to the Azores for installation.
The breakwater has survived severe weather conditions, including an extratropical storm Tanya with wind speeds of 47 m/s (91 knots/105 mph) already in the fall of the year the breakwater pontoons were installed. Decades and several other storms later, the breakwater is still in good condition and working as originally designed to shelter the marina. This is an excellent reference of Marinetek’s engineering and quality with an exceptionally long life span.
Marinetek and RMS Writing History
Marinetek and RMS complete new Super Yacht Marina and Mega Yacht Berthing Facilities in Old Doha Port.
Marinetek has a strong presence in the Middle East with numerous large-scale projects delivered over the years. Few years ago, the presence was further strengthened by a collaboration with RMS – Ruwais Marine Services, a Qatar-based company specialized in marine and offshore industry – to promote Marinetek’s marina solutions in the State of Qatar.
This collaboration quickly developed into a closer alliance with RMS starting to produce concrete pontoons in Qatar under a license, and with design and quality control support from Marinetek. RMS is the first local company to produce specialized, high quality concrete pontoons and build marinas in Qatar.
RMS and Marinetek have already delivered several projects in Qatar, among others, to Hamad Port, Qatar Armed Forces, Coast Guard, Special Forces and, most recently, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), the committee responsible for all projects related to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The project awarded by SC was to design and build a new Super Yacht Marina and Mega Yacht Berthing Facilities for the Old Doha Port, with only three months to execute the whole project.
The marina project included two parts, floating pontoon with Med-mooring for yachts up to 70 m long and Med-mooring installation to fixed pier for vessels up to 131 meters.
The floating marina consists of twenty Marinetek Super Yacht Pontoons, moored with combination of chain and rope connected to up to 40-ton concrete anchors. Pontoons are equipped with 20-ton stainless steel bollards, WPC decking, solar lights, utility ducts and three 20 m gangways. Yachts are moored with Med-mooring and, due to the sizes of the yachts, the anchoring is extremely strong with concrete anchors up to 60 ton per mooring line. Total number of 20-ton concrete anchors for the marina is 165, all embedded down to seabed level.
Second part of the project was the Med-mooring installation for vessels up to 131 m to the marina’s fixed pier. The maximum load for a single mooring line is over 1400 kN, with 80-ton concrete anchors embedded down to seabed level.
The project was delivered on time before the World Cup, and the new marina is now ready to serve a total of 56 yachts sized from 40 to 131 meters. After the games, the marina will continue to serve super and mega yachts visiting Doha.
Marinetek prides itself as the industry leading operator with particular focus in sustainability and health and safety. All work was executed under strict health and safety regulations and supervised meticulously. Therefore, we proudly note that our project in Qatar was completed with precise compliance in accordance with health and safety regulations, and with zero LTI.
This marina project is the first of its kind in the State of Qatar and therefore another historical landmark for the Marinetek–RMS alliance. And this is not the end of the alliance. Marinetek and RMS are currently targeting another unique project that is unprecedented in Qatar – and hopefully another step in a long story of successful joint projects.
Marinetek appoints Santeri Suoranta as the CEO
Santeri brings extensive experience in international project business to further strengthen Marinetek’s expansion as the leading provider of premium marinas and floating solutions across the World. Santeri joins Marinetek from KONE corporation where he recently served in leadership roles in the firm’s Major Projects Division as Head of Service Business, New Equipment Business Director Asia Pacific and Head of Technology.
“We are thrilled to have Santeri join the dynamic Marinetek team”, says Karri Kaitue, Chairman of the Board of Marinetek Group. “Marinetek has a strong heritage in providing floating solutions to leading marinas. With Santeri’s experience and energy, we will be perfectly placed to lead the next stage of Marinetek’s growth.”
“I am impressed by Marinetek’s strong product offering, deep technical know-how and global supply capability”, says Santeri Suoranta. “I am very excited to join the firm and look much forward to making a positive contribution in driving the company’s next wave of growth”.
In the CEO role, Santeri Suoranta succeeds Mika Parviainen, who will retire from Marinetek to pursue new opportunities.
“I would like to thank Mika for steering the company through a turbulent period characterized by the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical unrest. With Mika’s leadership, Marinetek has continued its expansion as a global pioneer for demanding marina projects”, says Karri Kaitue.