Finnish ship builder to cut jobs

Ship building firm STX Finland is to reduce its headcount after it failed to clinch a one billion-euro ($1.33 billion) cruise ship order, the Finnish Metalworkers' Union said on Wednesday. "The financial situation and the loss of the Sanctuary cruise ship order to France means the company's fixed costs have to be reduced by 30 percent," the union said in a statement. A union representative, Jari Aalto, said talks over job cuts would begin on January 8. STX Finland has around 2,200 employees, and "several hundred" jobs are at risk, he added. The Finnish government had turned down a request from the troubled company for a 50 million-euro loan to help it secure the order. Miami-based Royal Caribbean International last week announced that the order for a sister ship to its two top-of-the-line cruise liners, with an option on a second vessel, would go to the company's rival STX France. The company declined to comment on the number of redundancies when contacted by public broadcaster YLE. The Turku shipyard has received two orders for ferries, but unless the government lends STX Finland 50 million euros, "it means the Finnish shipbuilding industry will shut down," Aalto said. The Finnish economy entered recession in the third quarter, weighed down by slowing exports that has sparked a national debate over the country's competitiveness. Unemployment in the Nordic country rose to eight percent in November, its highest level in more than one and a half years.