In July 2022, technology group Wärtsilä announced a plan to ramp down manufacturing in Trieste and to centralise its 4-stroke engine manufacturing in Europe to Vaasa, Finland. The production activities in Trieste have since been discontinued, with manufacturing volumes centralised in Vaasa.
Now, Wärtsilä and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have agreed on a transaction of the Trieste manufacturing site. Today, 255 employees and the production facility have been transferred to MSC, with the rest of the buildings and assets to be transferred later this autumn.
The full annual cost savings as well as the transformation costs are estimated to end in line with the plan announced in July 2022, with majority of the transformation costs taken as Items Affecting Comparability in 2022-2024 and the savings realised in 2024.
While production activities for Wärtsilä in Trieste have already been discontinued, Trieste will remain an important site for Wärtsilä with R&D, sales, project management, sourcing, service, and training activities.
“At the core of our strategy is to shape the decarbonisation of marine and energy industries, requiring continuous focus on competitiveness and operational efficiency. As planned, we now have a strong European industrial base in Vaasa and will continue to also support our customers with our expertise in Trieste as part of the global Wärtsilä team,” says Håkan Agnevall, President and CEO of Wärtsilä.
“With this transaction, we are now able to increase clarity to the transferring employees after a period of uncertainty. Wärtsilä in Italy will continue serving our customers through our expert teams in Trieste, Genoa, Naples and Taranto,” says Roger Holm, President of Wärtsilä’s Marine business.