This involved a certain lead for the production of large tankers, and the size records of ships were being constantly broken. Many thought that the weight limit, 40,000 tonnes deadweight, was reached. Eriksberg's financial position was solid, like the other competitors in Sweden. Both Kockums and Götaverken were listed and were independent companies, while Eriksberg and Lindholmen were owned by shipping companies. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Eriksberg was the most profitable shipyard in the country, and to work at 'Torpet' (the name used by the public) was a 'status job' in Gothenburg. The last profitable decade was the 1960s, before competition from the Japanese shipbuilding industry became too fierce. When Norwegian shipping companies discontinued refinancing their vessel purchases in the United States capital market (the Interest Equalization Tax), requirements were put on Swedish wharfs to hand out credits with subsidized interests and conditions, like the Japanese industry. Eriksberg succeeded however, unlike its competitors Götaverken and Kockums, to retain high solvency and go through the last years of the 1960s relatively unhurt. Both Kockums and Götaverken, being public companies, were insolvent and were saved, through a combination of private and state intervention. In the case of Götaverken, the Salén Group of Stockholm, assumed ownership for a limited time with the option to regaining its investment from the State. In the beginning of the 1970s, it became clear to the company's management that there was only a respite of a few years before the economic resources were exhausted. The rise of wages and salaries, enforced by the trade unions in the beginning of the 1970s, increased the company's cost by around 25% in the span of only a few years. The Swedish krona with recurring devaluations raised import prices for the wharf. When the Bretton Woods system was abandoned in 1973 and the US dollar became "floating", it was obvious that the Swedish shipbuilding industry was at the brink of ruin. For Eriksberg, the 1970s started nevertheless in positive territory. They acquired Lindholmens Mekaniska Verkstad and built the Portuguese wharfs Lisnave and later Setenave, that among other things, delivered the bows for the company's supertankers (VLCC, ULCC). In 1973 Eriksberg sold their repair business to Götaverken to become pure new building shipyard.