Photo: Drill platform. Terramare media bank.
Terramare Oy is a Finland-based marine construction company operating a fleet of versatile dredging and marine construction vessels and equipment. Ontec Oy and Terramare have been collaborating for more than a decade on automation of that fleet. Mostly the joint projects have been in the field of drilling technology. In charge of the maintenance and upkeep of this massive machinery is Terramare Equipment Manager Timo Soikkeli, who briefed us on this cooperation, as well as on the Terramare’s parent company, the Dutch “Boskalis Westminster N.V.”, the 100% owner of Terramare. The most visible and best-known project of the Group are the Dubai artificial palm islands.
Boskalis Group
The Dutch Boskalis Group acquired Terramare back in 1994. Working with the parent company has been seamless. Carrying out joint projects with other Boskalis subsidiaries with similar business culture is a lot easier, than when working with completely unrelated companies. Companies within the Group consult each other freely so the needed knowhow is always at hand on demanding projects. Besides projects, Boskalis is known for its continuous product development. It also owns scores of patents.
Timo Soikkeli – a true maritime construction professional
- Lives in Helsinki
- The first summer job with the company at the age of 15
- Graduated as a mechanical engineer in 1988
- Has worked in multiple roles in Terramare: as a Planner, Project Manager, Maintenance Engineer, Repair Shop Manager and Maintenance Manager.
- Likes to spend his leisure time at his summer cottage
The story of Timo Soikkeli in Terramare begins with this father, who was the work Shop Manager with the company. Soikkeli worked there summers during his studies. Toikkeli took also a break from the company when he worked for its subsidiary in Scotland. “Originally I went there for a two-week docking gig but ended up staying there for four years”, laughs Soikkeli. “After my return, I continued working as a Maintenance Engineer on different projects sites around Finland. Currently, I do not get to visit construction nearly as often as I would like, unfortunately.”
The long history with the company and its equipment has proven useful to the Maintenance Manager since the service life of marine construction vessels and equipment is very long. “Preventive maintenance, regular upkeep and immediate repairs of equipment after any damages suffered in the rough seas in our policy. Due to many acquisitions of several companies, we have been getting quite a diverse fleet, which means our maintenance staff has knowhow of many brands and kinds of equipment. Our aim is to make the service life of any machinery we have as long as sensibly possible. As a matter of fact, as a responsible company, we also take care of the vessel demolition. We do not want equipment we deemed unusable to be used anywhere else either. For us, safety is a matter of pride.”
The significance of safety in the Boskalis Group can be seen in the NINA NINA – No Accidents, No Injuries health and safety program in use throughout the Group.
Terramare Oy
The over 60 years old Terramare operates in all Nordic and Baltic countries. In practice, if there is any significant maritime construction going on in that area, Terramare will be there. In 2020 Terramare finished its thus far largest project, which was the construction of Stockholm Norvik Port. The company has 160 employees, each a professional of their field. “Our employees are dedicated and truly knowledgeable of their trade”, Soikkeli tells with pride in his voice. The company has offices in Helsinki but the depot is situated in Loviisa together with repair and paint shops.
Terramare lines of business
- Dredging
- Port and harbour construction
- Underwater drilling and blasting
- Slipform construction
- Environmental construction
- Special projects
- Offshore wind farm construction
Terramare special fleet and equipment
In total over 40 marine construction vessels, including:
- Backhoe Dredgers – 3
- Grab Dredgers – 2
- Drill Platforms – 4
- Self-Propelled barges – 8
- Towable barges – 7
- Tugs – 4
- Floating crane – 1
- Piling equipment – 2
- Slipform equipment – about 1000 hydraulic slipform jacks and 3 units of Alimak elevators
- Work pontoons – 11
- Dragline excavator – 1
- Other machinery and equipment
Cooperation with Ontec – maintenance services in the key role
Terramare has been collaborating with Ontec over a decade. Ontec has been supplying Terramare dredgers and drill platforms with control systems for valve blocks, pile systems as well as emergency stop systems.
”I have been happy with the cooperation”, Soikkeli tells. ”Automation requires specialist knowhow in view of our business.” Since Terramare projects demand the machinery to work 24/7 on construction sites, availability of maintenance services is highlighted. ”It is important for me that our partners are big enough to provide those services. Working with microsize companies is too big of a risk for us”, points Soikkeli out. ”Each day when our vessels are out of business, are very expensive for us. This means well functioning servicing and qualified staff are an important factor when Terramare selects who it works with. Personally, I can recommend Ontec.”
