General Description
Location: Helsinki is situated on the S coast of Finland at the mouth of the River Vantaa, in the Gulf of Finland.
General overview: The Port of Helsinki is Finland's major foreign trade port and one of Europe's busiest passenger ports. Helsinki port is divided to the Passenger & Cargo Traffic.
The Passenger section is connected to Stockholm, Tallinn & Travemünde. It consists of 6 terminals:
- West Terminal 1 (No traffic at this time)
- West Terminal 2 (Eckerö Line & Tallink Silja) Finland to Estonia
- Katajanokka Terminal (Viking Line) Sweden and Estonia
- Olympia Terminal (Tallink Silja) to Sweden
- Makasiini Terminal (No traffic at this time)
- Hansa Terminal (Finnlines) to Germany
The cargo side of the port is divided in 6 areas:
- Vuosaari Harbour (handling Containers & Ro/Ros)
- West Harbour
- South Harbour (handling cruise ships)
- Katajanokka Harbour
- Port of Loviisa (specialized in dry and general cargo)
- Kantvik Harbour (handles bulk cargo (sugar, cement etc.))
Cargoes:
Around 50% of Finland's imports come from Helsinki.
- Imports: Consumer and industrial products, raw materials.
- Exports: Steel prodeucts, glassware, forestries.
In winter the port is kept clear of ice by large ice breaking vessels. Under the jurisdiction of Helsinki port is Porkkala (Kantvik Harbour), see separate entry. This is a dry bulk port, including coal for local power station.
Traffic figures: Approx. 8,740 vessels, 14,000,000 of cargo, including 400,000TEU and 10,000 passengers handled annually.
Load line zone: Summer Zone for ships over 100m in length and Winter Seasonal Area for ships of 100m or less in length, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31.
Max size:
West Harbour: Draught 11.0m.
Eastern Harbours: Draught 9.6m.
Vuossari Harbour: LOA 230m // Beam 33m // Draught 11.0m