Well-known Swedish boat builder Marell Boats has gone bankrupt, lawyers for the firm confirmed in a statement, adding to Maritime Journal that there had been a total loss of eight jobs.
No other official details have been released and Marell itself has not released a statement.
“Marell Boats Sweden AB was declared bankrupt on 25 May 2026 by decision of the Stockholm District Court. Attorney-at-law,” the law firm, Fygia, said in the statement. “The company develops and sells boats in the premium segment to both public and private customers. Manufacturing takes place in Östhammar, north of Stockholm. The bankruptcy administration is currently investigating the conditions for transferring the business and the assets included in the bankruptcy estate.”
Maritime Journal has covered Marell Boats several times, including a project on which it worked with Volvo Penta in the North Pole.
The two firms worked together on a battery-propelled tourist boat that could take passengers silently around the Arctic Circle near Svalbard, Norway’s frozen archipelago, on the search for walruses, seals, polar bears and other Arctic life.
Powered by a Volvo Penta twin D4-320 DPI Aquamatic hybrid solution, the boat, called Kvitbjørn (’Polar Bear’ in English), has a top speed of 32 knots and a cruising speed of 25 knots. Marell Boats built it for customer Hurtigruten, the tour operator, which needed a boat robust enough to operate safely in an Arctic environment of sub-zero temperatures with an extensive range of 500nm.
Shortly after the launch in Svalbard, Marell Boats won an order for five fast patrolling and interceptor vessels from the Norwegian Police.
The orders included Marell’s M12 RIB, which was based on the M15 platform that won ‘Interceptor of the Year’ by the Baird publication in 2019 and 2020.
Just in 2024, Marell was at Seawork with its Marell M17 hybrid patrol boat, on which it worked with Scania and Marine Jet Power to develop the hybrid powertrain.
Other media have speculated as to why the bankruptcy has occurred, but no official statements or comments have been released by the company.
