Hollming's History

1922
It all started with love. Master mariner Filip Hollming was married and didn’t want to spend too much time at sea and apart from his wife. He transferred to Koivisto, in the cape of Karjala, to head up a cargo business.

1945
F. W. Hollming Ltd changed from a shipping and loading company into a ship-building company. The construction of schooners began in Rauma as war reparations to the Soviet Union. The first builders came from Koivisto.

1946-1952
Altogether 34 schooners were manufactured at the Rauma shipyard. 15 fishing trawlers were also delivered to the Soviet Union. At the same time, the Company built apartments for their employees to live in, repaired and extended buildings in the shipyard area and even built Rauma’s city hall.

1950-1959
The first 100%-welded steel ships were launched. The shipyard’s operations were extended to ship repairs and construction of barges, tugboats and minesweepers. On average 10 barges were manufactured annually. Iron boats and weapons boats were manufactured for the Finnish defence forces.

1960-1969
Hollming became known as a ‘true’ ship builder: based on their own designs, 102 –m-long timber ships were offered to the Soviet Union. These 3400 dwt vessels were meant for North Sea traffic, and 20 were constructed. At the same time, for the domestic market, tugboats, ferries and versatile water building equipment were constructed. The workshop also manufactured non-ship-related products, for example sluice gates.

1968
The Company’s own product, Aquamaster, the most developed model of outboard motors, was presented at international exhibitions in Oslo and London. The motor could be used for many types of seagoing vessels. It was installed to cable ferries, ferries and tugboats. Exports abroad commenced in the same year.

1970-1979
Timber ships, self-designed roro vessels and heavy cargo ships were made for the Soviet Union. A new, deeper channel was constructed for the shipyard. The workshop in Kankaanpää manufactured ship-building components and also beacons. Both electrical guidance consoles and control boards were made for navigation authorities. The workforce shortage was solved by building housing and providing training. Tugboats, among others, were produced for the home market.

1977
The first steps towards operational diversification were taken. Loviisa-based Loval Ltd, a company that produced electronic resistor elements, was acquired. The company was sold in 1982. Also another boat builder, Baltic Yachts, had been purchased and then sold to its operating management in 1991.

1978
Hollming purchased refrigeration equipment manufacturer Norpe Ltd and electronics company Salora Ltd. Mobira, the joint venture between Nokia and Salora concentrating on mobile phones, was founded based on Hollming’s initiative. It was already known then that the NMT network was coming to the Nordic countries. In 1982, Nokia bought Salora’s shares from Mobira and ‘the rest is history’.

1980-1989
In all, ten 127-metre riverboats for Siperian traffic were manufactured. Engineering geology research vessels and acoustic research vessels were also manufactured. This led to the birth of Hollming Ltd Elektroniikka. In addition to equipment, also software and technology was developed, as well as weather data collection and measurement devices used in buLtds and even medical-scientific equipment. Production also included tow barges and tugboats as well as oil-fighting vessels.

1981
The first sea research vessel, Akademik Mstislav Keldysh was delivered to the Soviet Union. The vessel appeared on a local stamp already before it was delivered. US opposition finally made it impossible for the Soviet Union to acquire sophisticated research equipment from the west. The work didn’t interest Finnish electronics factories, so Hollming designed and manufactured practically everything itself.

1990-1999
Hollming developed the companies it owned, for example, the Kankaanpää workshop and Norpe Ltd. At the same time, the company also became a ship owner which owned cooling vessels, roro vessels, chemical tankers, etc., as well as real estate of other ship owners.

1991
22.11.1991 Hollming, Rauma Ltd and the state of Finland founded Finnyards Ltd. Hollming Ltd’s shipbuilding concluded. The new company continued building the unfinished vessels: mine ships, missile ships, ferry vessels and a few cruise liners and new generation ice breakers. Hollming gave up its 39% share in the company in 1997.

2000-
Most of the ship-owning activity is given up and Norpe Ltd sold. The Company is acquiring new growing and promising companies – Hollming Works (2002), BMH Technology (2007), Simsotec (2008) – and developing their operations.