A shake-up at Finnish technology giant Wartsila will see its Voyage shipping software division merged with Marine Power after heavy provisions.
The unit took big provisions after the group exited its Russian operations following the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Voyage president and management board member Sean Fernback is leaving the company with immediate effect, to be replaced by Hannu Mantymaa, 45, the vice president of performance services at Marine Power.
Wartsila said the integration is designed to accelerate the turnaround of the business division.
Marine Power is led by president Roger Holm.
“During the last years, Voyage has taken important steps to bring together the teams and competencies from several Wartsila acquisitions in the marine digital space,” Wartsila chief executive Hakan Agnevall said.
“By linking the unique digital expertise in Voyage with our well-established performance services, we take the next step in creating end-to-end digital solutions for maritime customers.
“I would like to thank Sean for his important contribution to developing the current Voyage business and for leading the operations during the past two challenging years. Now we are taking the next step to further integrate our marine offering, and I wish Hannu the best of success in this important role.”
Fernback has been contacted for comment.
The electronics engineer joined in 2020. He was chief technology officer at Navico from 2018 to 2019 and chief executive at C-Map before that.
Big provisions
Wartsila took a €200m ($203m) hit from ceasing Russian operations earlier this year.
The provisions included €75m of impairments for the Voyage shipping software division, related to goodwill and intangible assets.
As part of the pull-back, the Wartsila Digital Technologies office in Saint Petersburg was closed.
The group has built new research and development capabilities outside the country to secure the uninterrupted delivery of customer commitments.
In addition, marine equipment maintenance company Wartsila Vostok has been sold to its management.
The company has also sold navigation software operation Transas Navigator to its management.
In April, Fernback told TradeWinds that the group was trying to move key staff out of Russia.
He said: “There are quite a considerable number of staff involved in Russia in various locations. This is not their problem; they’re amazing people.
“It really has had an impact. A substantial part of our portfolio gets developed out of Saint Petersburg.”
