Wärtsilä plans closing of Mulhouse workshop i...

Wärtsilä France, Press release, 20 May 2010

In January 2010 Wärtsilä announced its plans to reduce capacity in order to
adjust to the fundamental changes in the market. The plan included reducing
approximately 1,400 jobs globally within the Group in the course of 2010. As
part of the overall plan, Wärtsilä's operations in France will be adjusted to
gain better efficiency.

Plans in Wärtsilä France:
In order to better utilize its assets, Wärtsilä France plans to concentrate all
high speed engine workshop activities to the services site in Surgères. This
would mean closing the workshop activities in Mulhouse. Michel Kubbinga,
President of Wärtsilä France, is confident that better efficiency and improved
customer satisfaction will be the result of this concentration.

Moreover, the establishment of the Wärtsilä Global Logistics Services
organisation with a Central Distribution Center in the Netherlands is currently
under way, and the plans are to start moving parts from France to the
Netherlands during the first quarter 2011.

In addition, Wärtsilä France is reorganizing its structure for a better
optimization of resources in service sales, technical support as well as
purchasing.  A process to bring forward the plan will be launched in accordance
with local rules and regulation.

Wärtsilä France currently employs 530 persons. The above mentioned actions would
imply a reduction of approximately 116 positions mainly in Mulhouse and
simultaneously approximately 35 new job opportunities would be offered mainly in
Surgères.

Locations and activities in France
The head office of Wärtsilä France would remain in Mulhouse, moving to new
facilities end of 2011.  Other Wärtsilä locations in France are:
  * Marseille, including the propulsion workshop opened in 2009
  * Surgères concentrating on high speed engines complete overhauls and tests
  * Nantes with Ship Power Navy business and related worldwide service support
  * Le Havre specialized in Electrical & Automation services
  * Calais as supplier of Whessoe type gauges and instrumentation for LNG/LPG
    land storage applications
  * Paris, with La Defense for Power Plant business in French speaking countries
    and Gennevilliers for services on emergency gensets.



For further information, please contact:
Mr Michel Kubbinga
President, Wärtsilä France
Tel: [phone]
michel.kubbinga@wartsila,com <mailto:michel.kubbinga@wartsila,com>



Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine
and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total
efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the
vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2009, Wärtsilä's net sales
totalled EUR 5.3 billion with more than 18,000 employees. The company has
operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed
on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.

www.wartsila.com <

http://www.wartsila.com/>


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