history

Shipbuilding in Sweden in the 20th Century

The opening of transoceanic routes in Sweden at the turn of the century was a step forward for the shipbuilding industry. Among the pioneers were Nordstjernan of Axel Johnson for its La Plata line in South America and its line in North America, the Swedish East Asia Company of Tirfing owned by Axel Brostrom, which operates freight in Asia, the Swedish American line (passenger traffic from Goteborg to New York), and Swedish American Mexico line (freight traffic to North America).

The Swedish shipbuilding industry also grew partly because of World War I. Being a neutral nation, Sweden did not participate in the war, and the war brought destruction to prominent shipbuilding countries in Europe, which resulted in major fleet losses and reduced production. The Swedish and Norwegian shipping industries and the growing Swedish engineering and steel producing industries created the new block of developments in Swedish shipbuilding in the 1910s and 1920s. Gotaverken in Goteborg and Kockums in Maalmo abandoned the production of steamships and began to focus on large diesel engine ships to compete with the British. Eriksberg and Lindholmen in Goteborg and Oresundsvarvet in Landskrona became large shipbuilders to meet the growing demand from Norwegian and Swedish shippers.

Swedish shipbuilders also introduced innovations in shipbuilding. Swedish shipbuilders welded instead of riveting the sheet metal. The new technology came about when inventor and marine engineer, Oscar Kjellberg, developed electric welding because he was dissatisfied with the older repair methods. The invention led to the creation of Elektriska Svetsnings AB, and Gotaverken in Goteberg began to use the welding method in 1904. K...

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...to cost more than bunkers, today bunkers cost more than ships);

3. Regulatory re-direction;

4. Intranet of objects;

5. New roles for people (under which he underlined the warning of the 2010 BIMCO/ISF study concerning the recurrent shortages of some categories of ship officers and the possibility that existing shortages are likely to intensify over the next decade); and

6. The framework of change (p.22).

Conclusion

The shipbuilding industry has experienced the most challenging times in modern history, yet even the toughest challenges could be mitigated by making the wise choices. To some extent, the decisions of the government have significant effects in the future. The government decision to provide key subsidies to major industries may have caused irreversible damages to the shipbuilding industry. Today, Sweden has yet to recover its glorious shipbuilding years.