Wärtsilä Marine Business main customer segments are:
- Merchant - Includes all vessels for seaborne transportation, such as:
- Container vessels
- Tankers
- Bulk Carriers
- LNG Carriers
- RoRo
- Other cargo vessel
- Offshore - Includes vessels and platforms used in oil and gas exploration as well as their supporting activities:
- Drilling rigs and ships
- Anchor handling vessels
- Offshore research vessels
- Floating production units
- Platform supply vessels
- Cruise & Ferry - Includes:
- Cruise vessels
- Passanger ferries
- Passanger/Cargo ferries
- Fast ferries
- Yachts
- Navy - Includes various kinds of naval vessels and submarines
- Special vessels - Includes a broad range of different vessels, the main categories being:
Demand in the shipbuilding and shipping industry is driven by the world economy, trade, and transport capacity needs. The main market driver for Wärtsilä Marine Business is the global demand for new vessels that are based on seaborne transportation, offshore oil exploration and support, cruise and ferry demand, as well as naval contracting. The demand for new vessels is also affected by shipyard capacity, ship prices, scrapping, oil prices, interest rates, freight rates, and environmental aspects.
The need for energy has increased in recent years, which has increased the price of oil, intensifying the exploration and development of new oil and gas reserves. Demand has also been very buoyant during the past few years for LNG carriers, an area of particular strength for Wärtsilä.
Geographically, the hub of shipbuilding industry today is in Asia, headed by Korea and China. European shipyards concentrate on special vessels, passenger and cruise ships.