From the turn of the century up until the end of the Second World War, the area occupied by Kockums business remained more or less the same. Following long, drawn-out negotiations with the port in the mid 1940s, Kockums was at last given the opportunity to expand westwards.
From 1945 to 1948, the foundations were laid for the area where the former Saab factory and Bo01 now are situated.
This area was created by filling in some 200,000 sq metres of the Sound. It also gained two slipways, a dry dock, a quay, a larger engineering workshop and a new metal workshop. It was at this time that the city's oil port in Västra Hamnen was closed. The extension of Västra Hamnen into the Sound increased the capacity by fifty per cent!
In 1947, the shipyard had seven slipways, which meant there was the capacity for building one vessel every month.
The post war period meant an increase in demand as world trade accelerated and as millions of tonnage that had been lost in the war needed to be replaced. Kockums was the world-leader in terms of launched tonnage throughout practically the whole of the 1950s. The crisis in Korea and the closure of the Suez Canal pushed Kockums orders up to record levels and one resulting effect was further expansion in the port area. New vessels such as gas tankers were built, and then a little later it was tinme for the supertankers.
At about that time the figures were boasting a record number of shipyard employees (6 000) in the early 60s, the very first signs of competition from the Japanese shipyards were beginning to show.
