Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad
Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB was a Swedish shipbuilding company based in Gothenburg. It was founded in 1850 by Christian Barchman under the name Ericsbergs metall och tackjerns-gjuteri. It delivered its last ship in 1979.
History
Introduction
Founded in 1850 by Christian Barchman, the company originally worked with
Eriksberg's developments up to the 1960s
Eriksberg underwent similar developments as the other Swedish major shipbuilding companies;
In the beginning of the 1950s, Eriksberg obtained the rights to manufacture Burmeister & Wains diesel motors, unlike Götaverken who chose to manufacture their own original designs. This involved a certain lead for the production of large tankers, and the size records of ships were being constantly broken. Many thought that the weight limit, 40,000 tonnes deadweight, was reached.
Eriksberg's financial position was solid, like the other competitors in Sweden. Both
The financial crisis
The last profitable
In the beginning of the 1970s, it became clear to the company's management that there was only a respite of a few years before the economic resources were exhausted. The rise of wages and salaries, enforced by the
For Eriksberg, the 1970s started nevertheless in positive territory. They acquired
In 1974 the company's management issued an anticipated warning about the serious state of the company, and the Managing Director Bengt Eneroth resigned after being with the company for 33 years. He had consciously held back new investments in buildings and equipment but the company was still hit. The unfavorable refinancing in foreign currencies created huge losses, as for the other wharfs, by the major problem were the customers, the shipping companies, canceling contracts and amortizations.
The situation, however, was not handled well by the new company management from AB Tirfing, the owners, and they were eventually forced to sell Eriksberg for a symbolic 1000 krona and sign two very expensive ship building contracts with the new owners, now the soon defunct Götaverken Group. In the long run, this meant a coup de grace for Broströmkoncernen and Tirfing, which were listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. This also meant the end of the once fortunate and rich Broström Group
The obstinate attitude of the trade-unions and the socialist government to not lose a single job of the shipbuilders, proved to be a ticking bomb that in the end led to the death of the shipbuilding industry in Sweden. But this would take another 10 years.
The government's irresponsible economic policies, driven by the Social Democratic governments, in tandem with the metalworkers union, alongside the devaluations of the Swedish Krona that made imports expensive, unreasonable wage increases eaten up by progressive taxes and an inconsistent currency regulation, which made it impossible to match the Krona with the credit commitments in US dollar, brought the shipbuilding industry to an end. The total cost for the State of shutting down this industry has been estimated to 39 billion Kronor ( 1986).
Eriksberg is taken over and is closed down
At this point, Eriksberg Mekaniska Verkstad had 6000 employees. Despite the example of Eriksberg, it was not taken seriously and so investments at Götaverken and Uddevallavarvet was not questioned. Billions were lost because of over optimistic wharf directors. Eriksberg became a sister company of Götaverken, before both became part of Svenska Varv, which was run by the government, in 1978. During 1978-79 all activities were successfully terminated at Eriksberg, and on 15 June 1979 the shipyards last vessel, a product tanker M/T Atland was delivered to Broströms, that was already on the brink of bankruptcy. Just about a year before the shut down Erikbergs Mekaniska Verkstad had delivered the ULCC:s 'Nai Superba' and 'Nai Genova' at about 460 000 dwt each. The greatest ships ever built in Gothenburg as well as they were among the last. The Nai-ships were demolished in year 2000-2001.
Today, all that remains of EMV is the 84m high, bright orange Eriksberg Crane and two workshop halls; the engine workshop 'Blå Hallen', today hosting a hotel and conference facility, and the former workshop 'Eriksbergshallen' with the text 'Eriksbergs Mek. Verkstads AB Shipbuilders Engineers & Repairers' still painted on the facade. Along the former equipping quays are now blocks of fancy condos and boutiques.