Efficiency increased in many sectors
In Vuosaari Harbour, focus has been on increasing the efficiency of cargo traffic. The fairway deepening project proceeded, a new ship route from Vuosaari to Muuga in Tallinn was commissioned and the renewal of the container quay was completed. The growing heavy rubber-wheeled traffic was successfully directed from the city centre’s harbours to Vuosaari Harbour.
The pricing model introduced in early 2019 directed truck traffic from the city centre’s harbours to Vuosaari Harbour during peak hours. This price steering worked as hoped: heavy traffic did not increase in the harbours of the city centre during the year, whereas the truck traffic in Vuosaari saw a positive change.
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In part, this change was made possible thanks to Eckerö Line’s Finbo Cargo, which transports both cargo and passengers with cars and started operating the route between Vuosaari and Muuga in Tallinn in June. The service level on this route rose and traffic increased.
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Fairway to meet the transport requirements of container traffic
The Port of Helsinki’s and Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s joint fairway deepening project proceeded. A permit applied for in accordance with the Water Act in order to deepen the fairway was granted in 2017. Vaasa Administrative Court made a further decision to maintain the validity of this assenting decision in June 2019. The ELY Centre has applied for permission to appeal the Administrative Court’s decision due to matters related to inspection obligations during use. However, as agreed with the ELY Centre, this application for permission to appeal does not prevent the launch of the project.
The project will deepen the existing Vuosaari fairway and part of the harbour area from 11 metres to 13 metres. In particular it will improve the transport economics of container transport and develop the competitiveness of the harbour. As the fairway becomes deeper, some cargo ships can almost double their cargo capacity, resulting in significant transport cost savings and reducing the environmental impacts of ship traffic. The objective is to carry out the dredging during open water seasons 2020–2021. The deeper fairway will be in use in late 2021.
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Safe and efficient use of space
The modification work at container quay D of Vuosaari Harbour was completed: demolition of a ramp with a low usage rate added 35 metres of space to the quay, and the extension to the crane tracks was completed. The new large harbour crane by Multi Link Terminals was delivered to the dock at the end of the year.
The plans for a new check-in area intended for the Muuga route’s passengers were started. The new area will be rented from the City of Helsinki outside the current Vuosaari Harbour area. The new driving route through the closed harbour area will be shorter and safer than before. It is estimated that the check-in area will be commissioned in summer 2020.
The one-gate check-in model is also currently being reviewed at Vuosaari together with the harbour operators. If this model can be implemented, the gate operations of all harbour operators would be located in the same place in the gate area, which would make use of space in the harbour more efficient.
Border inspection post to pay attention to carbon footprint
The Finnish Food Authority is planning to transfer the veterinary border inspection post from Hakuninmaa to Vuosaari Harbour’s gate area. The Port of Helsinki is in charge of contracting the construction of these new facilities. When the project was planned, a calculation based on the life-cycle model was piloted, which established the building’s carbon footprint for the duration of its entire life cycle. The tendering process for this contract was launched in late 2019, and the construction will probably begin during the first half of 2020 and finished by the end of 2020.