 Merivienti Oy () was founded on 18 April 1947 by the Finnish forest industry giant Enso-Gutzeit and Kansaneläkelaitos (Finnish Social Insurance)—both completely or partially state-owned companies—to ensure transportation of forest industry products from Finland to Western Bloc countries.According to the 1947 Paries Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, Finland had to pay US$300 million worth of war reparations to the Soviet Union, mostly in industrial goods.With only 30% of the Finnish merchant fleet having survived the war, and 2/3 of the surviving ships being used by the Allied forces or under forced charter to the Soviet Union, new tonnage was desperately needed.