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Le Groupe ALMACO secures major contract from Davie to outfit Canadian Coast Guard’s Polar Max Icebreaker

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Products & services Products & services

Published: 22 August 2025 22 August 2025

The execution plan for Polar Max is an international collaboration between Davie and ALMACO, spanning both Canada and Finland. The hull will be constructed at Davie-owned Helsinki Shipyard, with Le Groupe ALMACO delivering interior accommodation spaces and other essential areas during this stage. In parallel, in Québec, Davie’s shipbuilders and Le Groupe ALMACO will lead the design, procurement, and fabrication of the 1,400-ton superstructure – the top part of the ship.

This dual-build approach not only leverages expertise across two continents but also accelerates the project timeline by allowing major work to proceed simultaneously in both locations and guarantee the timely delivery of the ship to the Government of Canada. Once the hull is transported from Finland to Canada, the superstructure will be integrated at Davie’s facility in Lévis, Québec. This approach follows a proven process, successfully used for the delivery of Combat Support Ship (CSS) Asterix to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Work on the superstructure begins in late summer, with final integration and vessel delivery to Canada by 2030.

Expanding ALMACO Group’s presence in Québec

To support the Polar Max project and to create a long-term presence, ALMACO is expanding its operations in Canada. ALMACO set up operations in Québec already in 2022 and will open a new Le Groupe ALMACO office in Québec City in September 2025.

Québec’s role in the Polar Max program further reinforces its position as a global shipbuilding hub, recognized for innovation, technical excellence, and a highly skilled workforce. In delivering the project, Davie and ALMACO intend to collaborate extensively with subcontractors across Québec and Canada’s broader shipbuilding industry, ensuring that expertise and economic benefits are shared nationwide. As part of this effort, ALMACO’s role in the Polar Max will generate new jobs in Québec, creating opportunities for local talent and driving long-term growth in the province’s advanced marine sector.

The company has launched a major recruitment program, combining the know-how of ALMACO’s Europe-based employees with the skills of Canadian professionals. Le Groupe ALMACO is committed to employing local talent in all functions – from engineering and project management to manufacturing and other roles.

A shared commitment to Canada’s maritime future

“Working with Davie again is a proud moment for us,” said Vilhelm Roberts, Executive Chairman of the Board and Co-owner of ALMACO Group. “We’ve maintained a close relationship with their team ever since the Asterix Project, and this new contract confirms our shared ambition to deliver world-class vessels while growing local expertise and capacity. We’re not just outfitting a ship – we’re helping to build the future of Canadian shipbuilding together.”

“Polar Max is a once-in-a-generation project that demands the very best from every partner involved, said Davie co-owner and CEO, James Davies. “Our work with ALMACO on Asterix proved that when we combine their world-class expertise with Canadian ingenuity, we deliver faster, better and with greater impact. This is a lasting partnership which will not only help deliver Polar Max on time and to the highest standard – it will also create jobs and develop skills and industrial capability here in Canada.”

Davie is a key player in Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. ALMACO is honoured to support this important national initiative and looks forward to continuing its collaboration with Davie on Polar Max, and beyond.

“This is great news that ALMACO has chosen Québec to expand its activities and partner with Davie on the Polar Max Icebreaker project. The National Shipbuilding Strategy continues to generate exciting opportunities for Canada’s shipbuilding industry, creating high-value jobs and strengthening our economy while advancing shipbuilding expertise in Québec and across the country,” said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Québec Regions.

“The Polar Max project is an excellent example of how Canadian industry and international partners can collaborate to deliver world-class capabilities while creating good-paying jobs here at home. With ALMACO expanding its footprint in Québec, we can expect more skilled jobs, greater shipbuilding expertise, and a stronger, more resilient Canadian marine sector. As a key project under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Polar Max icebreaker will contribute to a more modern, capable Canadian Coast Guard fleet and secure long-term economic growth and shipbuilding capacity for our country,” said the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, Canada.

“Davie’s leadership in the Polar Max project is a powerful driver of economic growth for Québec,” said Christopher Skeete, Minister for the Economy. “The collaboration between Davie and the ALMACO Group will generate business opportunities in both jurisdictions’ naval sectors. It will also consolidate Québec’s position as a shipbuilding hub, while recognizing the strategic importance placed on the Arctic in the 21st century.”

A trusted partnership renewed

The Polar Max project represents a significant milestone in the long-standing collaboration between Davie and ALMACO Group. Their previous partnership to deliver the CSS Asterix to the Royal Canadian Navy in 2017 created lasting impact on the Canadian and international maritime industries. The Polar Max contract highlights the trust and shared commitment to delivering top-tier marine outfitting and advancing shipbuilding excellence in Canada.

Introducing mobile cabin factory for modular cabins

A local “cabin factory” will be established in Québec. This facility, a first of its kind in Canada, will allow Le Groupe ALMACO to produce pre-fabricated modular cabins on site, significantly improving project logistics, efficiency, and quality assurance. The move supports Le Groupe ALMACO and Davie’s shared vision of building local capabilities and fostering long-term industrial growth in the Canadian marine sector.

MXP launches voice-enabled AI chatbot for iTV

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Products & services Products & services

Published: 12 August 2025 12 August 2025

MXP presents a new milestone in digital cruise interaction: a multilingual, voice-enabled AI chatbot fully integrated into the MXP365 guest mobile/web solution.

MXP365 is cutting-edge, cloud-based web and mobile software delivering a rich end-to-end digital guest experience in a single system. With MXP365, guests can easily book tours, packages, wellness services, and dining, update preferences and allergens, complete check-in online, and access important information pre-cruise, on board, and post-cruise.

The AI-powered chatbot personalizes this experience through intuitive, voice-based interaction across all devices. It enables guests to ask questions, make bookings, or retrieve cruise-specific information using natural speech - without navigating complex menus or input fields.

Unlike static question-answer models, the MXP Chatbot understands context and natural phrasing, delivering responses based on live data drawn from a structured, cruise-specific knowledge base – ensuring consistency and accuracy.

Fully integrated into the MXP365 Guest App and the MXP Enterprise Platform, the voice-enabled chatbot benefits from the integrated MXP content management system and dynamic updates of the underlying data.

Key features:
– Up-to-Date Cruise-Specific Data – Cruise-specific data augmentation enables the AI engine to deliver accurate responses
– Make pre-cruise and onboard purchases – Increase sales using verbal interaction
– Multilingual Voice Communication – Natural communication for bookings, questions, and support
– iTV Integration – Talk to your TV to get answers and make bookings

"This new feature changes the way guests can interact pre-cruise and on board," says Aneta Ivanovska, Director Artificial Intelligence at MXP. "This cutting-edge solution adds tangible benefits to the guest experience."

MXP is the award-winning and innovative software partner for the global cruise industry, delivering the leading MXP Enterprise Platform designed specifically for cruise operations. With over 400 installations across more than 60 cruise brands, MXP has become the go-to solution for increasing revenue, enhancing the guest experience, and supporting end-to-end operations onboard and ashore.

Gasum provides bio-LNG for the first completely carbon neutral shipping route on the Baltic Sea run by Wasaline

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Products & services Products & services

Published: 12 August 2025 12 August 2025

Nordic energy company Gasum and Finnish shipping company Wasaline have agreed that Gasum will provide only liquefied biogas (bio-LNG) to Wasaline’s vessel Aurora Botnia going forward. The vessel transports passengers and freight daily across the Baltic Sea between the port of Vaasa in Finland and the port of Umeå in Sweden.

This move to using only fossil free fuel is made possible by Wasaline’s agreement to generate FuelEU Maritime compliance for one of Europe's leading ferry companies Stena Line. Stena Line operates 40 vessels and 20 routes in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.

“We have constantly worked with the possibilities to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint, and we have seen the EU regulation as an opportunity for our traffic between Finland and Sweden. With this unique collaboration with Stena Line and Gasum, Wasaline can achieve carbon neutrality already now as a forerunner for the industry. This also means that all cargo and passengers travelling with Wasaline are carbon neutral with no additional charges”, says Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline.

“We are very delighted that Wasaline has chosen Gasum to deliver them biogas for the daily operations of Aurora Botnia, and we are proud to facilitate this collaboration with Stena Line. Renewable biogas is one of the already available concrete solutions for reducing emissions in maritime transport. Our goal is to continuously increase biogas availability to our customers in the years ahead”, says Jacob Granqvist, Vice President, Maritime at Gasum.

Gasum’s waste-based bio-LNG is fully renewable

Gasum’s bio-LNG is is a fully renewable fuel with life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions that are, on average, 90% lower when compared with fossil fuel use. It is produced from waste such as biowaste, sewage sludge, manure and other industrial and agricultural side streams.

Gasum is dedicated to increasing the availability of bio-LNG in the maritime market as demand is set to increase along with tightening EU regulation and customer requirements. Gasum constantly grows its own biogas production volumes as well as establishes new long-term partnerships with certified producers throughout Europe.

Gasum can provide bio-LNG bunkering services to all shipping companies that have vessels running on liquefied natural gas, as LNG and bio-LNG are fully interchangeable. They can also be mixed at any ratio.

Gasum also provides a FuelEU Maritime pooling service that allows vessels owners to purchase reliable regulation compliance easily and cost effectively. This is achieved by running dedicated ships on Gasum’s bio-LNG to generate the needed amount of compliance for all vessels in the pool.

Marella Cruises contracts V.Ships Leisure for ship management services

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Products & services Products & services

Published: 30 July 2025 30 July 2025

V.Ships Leisure, part of V.Group, has been awarded a ship management contract by Marella Cruises, TUI UK&I’s ocean cruise line.

The five-year agreement will cover the full technical, crewing, digital and ESG management of all of Marella’s five cruise ships, with operations commencing towards the end of 2025. The first two vessels will come into management by the end of the year, with the other three joining in the first half of 2026.

As part of the new partnership, V.Ships Leisure will build upon its already strong UK presence by establishing a dedicated Marella Cruises fleet cell in the UK, operating from its Southampton office and supported by the wider V. network. The decision reflects V.’s commitment to providing Marella Cruises with local expertise backed by global scale, reach and experience.

V. will leverage its ShipSure platform to enable data-driven decision-making across fleet maintenance and operations, supporting more efficient and proactive management and giving Marella Cruises enhanced transparency to the operations.

Marella Cruises will benefit both from V.’s end-to-end management services and from V.ERDE, its dedicated decarbonisation and environmental compliance programme.

Adrian Hibbert, Cruise Operations Director at Marella Cruises, commented: “Throughout the tender process, we were hugely impressed by the calibre of the team at V.Ships Leisure and the depth of their industry expertise. We look forward to working together to deliver safe, reliable and sustainable operations across our fleet.”

Per Bjørnsen, CEO of V.Ships Leisure, said: “This contract is a clear endorsement of our talented team, commitment to ESG and our digital first approach. Above all, it’s testament to our track record and further reinforces our leadership in the cruise sector. We are extremely proud to be working with Marella Cruises and are looking forward to collaborating to achieve operational excellence.”