Business Finland 2/2011

2/2011

2/2011 www.business-finland.eu

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IN THE HEART OF HIMOS

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cont

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3 Editorial4 BlueLakeVillasatHimos8 Vivago-EnablingIndependenceandDignifiedCare12 FinnishPortsandShippingRecovering14 OpentheWorldLogisticswithStraightway18 Helsinki-Finland’sPremierPort24 St.PeterLine’sSuccess-VeniceoftheNorthInvitesTravellers30 TheMostModernCargoFleetontheBalticSea36 RailLinktoRussiaandEurope40 MeriauraGroup-ShippingwithCareandAccuracy46 VictorEk-StronglyontheMove52 OperationalExcellencebyEuroports58 VaasaPort-PreparingforIncreasingExports62 RGLine-ConnectingSwedenandFinland66 StrongDevelopmentThroughInvestments70 ”K”Line(Finland)Ltd.-AccurateTransportation76 BureauVeritas-KeepsShipsonSafeWaters80 ScanGlobalLogistics-LeanOrganizationClosetotheCustomer84 ComprehensiveTransportationsbyFreightOne90 Kotka-Hamina-KouvolaTransitCargoRoute92 Kotka-SuperbSettingofMaritimeCulture94 HaminaCountsonLogistics,EnergyTechnologyandICT95 MaritimeExpertisebyEkami96 Stella-ImprovingCustomers’Competitiveness98 Kouvola:2.5hoursfromRussia’sSecondCity100 Aviapolis-InternationalInnovationHub102 AirportSnow-howandMuchMore105 TheBrightFutureofRFID106 NewLookofBlue1108 ScanWings-AlmostThere110 HotelGLO-EnjoyAdditionalSleepTime112 SokosHotelVantaa-KeepingtheSceneAlive114 Avis-WeTryHarder115 Hertz-CarsforVacationandBusinessTrips116 SixtFinland-CommittedtoCustomerService117 LapponiaLakkaCloudberryLiqueur118 BootsandshoesbyPerttiPalmroth122 AhtiSusiluoto-OutburstsofInnerEnergy

2 / 2011

6 15 21

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Editor-in-ChiEfJorma Leppäniemi

EditorsKlaus Susiluoto

Susanna RinkinevaSimo Raittila

Sini PennanenJuhana Huurula

LanguagE EditorNordic International Ltd

dEsign and LayoutAivo Blum

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MarkEtingJorma Leppäniemi

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2 / 2011

EDITORIAL

T his issue of Business Finland is dedicated to shipping, trans-portation and logistics. One definition of logistics is “a busi-ness planning framework for the management of material, service, information and capital flows. It includes the in-

creasingly complex information, communication and control systems required in today's business environment”.

Modern logistics certainly includes increasingly complex informa-tion and analysing tools like ILS, LSA etc. One future key technol-ogy to improve logistics is RFID, an old technology which became new thanks to modern software solutions. It can play a major role in tightening inventory and shipping logistics along the entire chain. We interviewed the director of RFID Lab Finland.

However, logistics basically means no more than having the right thing in the right place at the right time. Sounds easy, but is extremely difficult to realise – at least in a cost-efficient way.

In our pages we introduce shipping lines, ports, forwarders etc who are able to offer tailor-made and competitive services. In spite of ICT basic service providers, companies that have expertise in rail, sea and road are also in a key role. Many of these actors can provide a one-stop shop approach in shipments to or from Finland, Scandinavia, Russia or even globally.

We also do not forget passenger flows in this issue. For example, ferry traffic between Helsinki and St Petersburg started in April 2010, and in little more than a year the route has proved to be a success. In the view of the representative of the company, St Peter Line’s passenger ship M/S Princess Maria “opened a new era in regular passenger traffic between Europe and Russia”. One key factor in St Peter Line’s success has been visa-free travel for 72 hours. However, this only concerns sea voyage passengers, and in practice only tourists.

Getting a business visa to Russia still takes some effort and is at least time-consuming. Let us hope that Russia will ease its visa requirements for business people too. There has been talk of totally visa-free travel, but a more urgent need is to ease procedures and registration requirements. If at the same time Russia could reduce corruption, there would be a real boom in foreign investor interest. In logistics many issues are going rather well, however, despite some obstacles. Several Finn-ish ports like Helsinki, Hanko, Hamina and Kotka are playing an important role in transit cargo to Russia.

When it comes to air traffic, Finland is actually a transit hub for Asians and Russians. We take a look at Aviapolis, a special area around Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Finnish com-

panies are also strong in providing hardware and services to those thinking of renewing or building new airports. Airport Cluster Finland is a non-profit clustering organisation that aims at creating new turnkey solutions for airports.

Logistics – Complex and Easy

Jorma LeppäniemiEditor-in-Chief

Blue Lake Villas at HimosBlue Rak is offering personal villas in the heart of Central Finland, complete with the necessities of the modern life. For CEO Tero Lahtinen, it is all about the location.

Text: Simo RaittilaPhotos: Blue Rak, StockXchng

Lahtinen started the company with a simple enough phi-losophy: to offer the custom-ers what they want, that is, a

place to have a high-quality vacation. He knows what a vacationer typically looks for, thanks to his twenty-year work in the field.

“When starting Blue Rak, I decided to find the best possible piece of land for the villas,” tells Lahtinen. He thinks that he found such a place in the heart of Himos.

“It takes only an hour’s drive to Tam-pere, only half an hour to Jyväskylä and two and a half hours to Helsinki. The area has at least as much to give in the sum-mer as in the winter.”

Lahtinen feels that the summertime and centrality of Himos are too often for-gotten. The name of the company’s main project Blue Lake Villas communicates not only the view from the site to the

lake, but also the idea that the extended Himos area is not all about snow, winter and skiing.

A home away from home

The leisure homes offered by the compa-ny cannot be labeled “cabins” in the tra-ditional sense of the word. They fulfil the basic modern needs such as internet and television access. Blue Lake Villas have enough space for one or two families at one time. There are three bedrooms and enough beds for seven people in one villa. Toilets have been placed on both floors and the sauna is equipped with loud-speakers for listening to one’s favorite music.

“The expectations of leisure home owners have risen through the years. People are used to more amenities nowa-days,” says Lahtinen. “We are more ac-

It takes only an hour’s drive to Tam-pere, only half an hour to Jyväskylä and two and a half hours to Helsinki. The area has at least as much to give in the summer as in the winter.”

construction & living

6 Business Finland 2/2011

customed to searching online for a resta-raunt than walking to a travel info to ask about it.”

A customer can choose from three different ways of owning their Blue Lake Villas. The cheapest and most basic one is fractional ownership, in which a share of a villa can be bought. This is mainly of-fered in packages of five timeshares, each equal to a week’s stay at the villa per year.

The customer doesn’t have to share his leisure home with others, unless they want to. The second option is to purchase a whole villa furnished or unfurnished. This is the most traditional way of own-ing one’s Finnish leisure home.

There is also the third possibility to buy one of Blue Rak’s empty lots. This gives more freedom in the realisation of the building. Two bigger plots can be divided in multiple ways. According to Lahtinen, some interested company can even set up a course center or a repre-sentation villa. Blue Rak offers supervi-sion of the building process and has good connections to suitable construction and architecture companies.

Leisure and cold cash

“It’s not ideal to calculate everything in money. I think that a relaxing vacation is a value itself in this hectic time.” But for those who wish to calculate, Lahtinen points out that the villa can be seen as an investment.

The Blue Lake Villas area is turning out beautifully. It’s a clean and united area with enough privacy for every villa.”

construction & living

6 7Business Finland 2/2011

“Normally when buying something for leisure like a holiday trip or a mobile home, it’s just consumption. Sooner or later the thing will lose its value. An investment in a villa lasts. The shares or a whole villa can be sold or left as inheritance,” he explains.

Beyond the long-lasting leisure, the villa even makes profits. It is more than plausible that the prices of leisure homes are rising in four to six years. Buying now and selling then means gain, and the shareholder can rent his/her weeks at the villa to others, getting an even better result. The renting is made easy through Blue Rak.

Jämsä opportunities

Lahtinen feels that his company is do-ing right. The layout in use was voted the crowd favorite by Lapponia House’s cus-tomers, and the try-out days that Blue Rak has at the villas have also been more pop-ular than the days when there have been vacancies.

Himos has had visitors from many countries, e.g., Germany, Switzerland and Russia. They mainly come to visit the holi-day centre, but the Jämsä area has natural parks, nightlife and lakes for fishing and rowing even outside Himos.

He likes the place himself and spends time there with his family. “During the winter I love skiing with my family and in the summertime I tend to rollerblading in the typical Finnish landscape. I also enjoy

playing golf at Himos, and there are many festivals for the whole family throughout the year.”

Blue Lake Villas serves as a perfect base from where people can reach daytime’s excitements and come back in the even-ing for a good sauna bath. There’s even a golf course being built within a walking distance and a paintball track nearby.Yet there is a right distance away from the more crowded Himos, so peace, quietness and a genuine cottage vibe are ensured.

The first wave of pioneers

Lahtinen tells that the company’s goal is to offer “the best villa, in the best location, for the best price”. When asked whether this

has succeeded, he enthusiastically answers yes.

“Our prices are for now even under the market balance, since the project has just started. The first customers as pio-neers are getting cheaper prices,” explains Lahtinen. He estimates that there is going to be enough supply at this first location for a couple of years. The empty lots are going to be exhausted first.

“The Blue Lake Villas area is turning out beautifully. It’s a clean and united area with enough privacy for every villa.”

If suitable partners appear, the compa-ny will start another similar project some-where else. It might take a couple of years and a bit of scouting, but it is all about the location. n

www.bluerak.fi


Vivago enabling independence and dignified care


Nursing homes often have a poor image but Vivago Care can help elderly people live independently for longer, and to live freer lives even when they are forced to depend on others.

Text: Simo RaittilaPhotos: Vivago

Our quality has been noticed over the borders."

Vivago Active Ultra PC

•Helps in maintaining a healthy lifestyle - answers the following questions:

– How active have I been? Change in my activity level?

– How much calories have I burnt?– How much have I slept? My sleep quality?

The Vivago watch is a solution for better and more humane elderly care. It comes with safety features that send an alarm when the

user presses a button or when their activity level is abnormal.

The watch adapts to the user's daily rhythm in a couple of days, after which it is able to recognise when abnormal changes occur. It has been used, for example, by diabetic patients who were caught off-guard when their blood sugar levels were low. With-out the automatic alert, one unconscious fainted dia-betic would not have survived.

Vivago watches also make life easier for doc-tors and nurses, because they have information that would otherwise be beyond their reach; the data col-lected on health and sleep can be analysed and used in care.

“With the watch we can, for example, follow up medication better,” says nurse Reetta Koivisto. “It's a good thing when we have patients with several chronic conditions that need medication.”

The Vivago watch has proven its place as an excel-lent device for dementia care, she adds.

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We at Vivago want to help you to take better care of yourself."

Vivago Active Sleep

Vivago Care

•Give you greater health and fitness awareness, including sleep pattern and exercise levels

•Help exploit overall well-being•Safeguard you against long-term

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1) Manual alarms• The user can always call for help by

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2) Automatic alarms•"Wrist unit off wrist" and "Wrist unit back on

wrist" notifications ensure that the unit is in use and that the user is supported by the unit´s security features.

•Alarms based on changes in activity levels alert carers to unusual periods of immobility or the user´s prolonged passivity.

•With a device interface, a discreet access control solution can be implemented even at home. The system then provides "At home" and "Out" notifications.

•Automatic technical alarms on, for example, low batteries or radio transmission problems.

More freedom

Koivisto now works for Vivago's training and consulting depart-ment. It is paradoxical how a product that monitors people's lives can enhance their freedom, she says, yet that is exactly what the watch does.

“The help can be timed better with the watch. There's no need to go and wake somebody up while they are sleeping, because we can see when they are up and about. It's more customer-oriented and less about the routine.”

Vivago's products and programmes are easy to use and a nurse can easily understand the visualised messages from the activity software. For nurses it is also valuable to know that patients are

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Vivago Per-sonal Wellness Manager

•Continuously measures your activity•Measures the changes in your daily activity• Analyses the amount of sleep and its devel-

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without a separate transmitter belt

using the watch; it sends an alert even if it has been taken off.The feeling of safety the watch brings is not a small matter.

When a patient knows that if something happens to them an alarm is sent automatically and help will come, they have the courage to act and enjoy their life in a different way.

More efficiency

For countries with ageing populations, the wellbeing watch is something akin to a miracle. Vivago estimates that it allows el-derly people to spend approximately one year longer at home, and this could save about EUR 40,000 of public money per watch

each year. It also gives people the opportunity to retire and live at home.

Vivago is developing the software further to make it more user-friendly and to give it more functions. It currently offers a web-based service, where people can see how their loved ones are doing and can share this data with, for example, healthcare professionals.

The watch can monitor how active the user is throughout the day and night. It is mainly used to take care of elderly people, but it is also suitable for those who want to know more about their own vitality and health. For this purpose there is a similar but dedicated hi-tech wellness watch. n

www.vivago.fi

seafaring, transport &

logistics


Finnish ports play an extremely important role in ex-ports and imports. About 90 percent of Finland’s for-eign trade passes through the sea ports. In this sense, Finland could be compared to an island, as the ports

located on its more than 1,000 kilometres of coast function as links in the commercial transport of goods to and from foreign countries.

All larger ports in Finland are kept open also in winter time to serve shipping all year long. In the very harshest winder con-ditions there may be some delays because of ice, but normally everything is managed pretty well with ice-breakers, and many ships manage alone, thanks to good ice-classifications.

Finland has tens of ports and more than 1000 kilometres of sea-cost. It is thus no wonder the country has around 50 commercial ship-size ports. Of these only part have bigger eco-nomic importance. HaminaKotka became the largest port after merger in May 2011.

Finnish ports and shipping recovering

The largest ports in Finland are Helsinki, Kotka, Naantali, Rauma, Kokkola, Pori, Raahe, Hamina, Turku and Hanko. The ports of Hamina and Kotka merged from the first of May, and HaminaKotka becomes thus the largest seaport in Finland. In the Baltic Sea context it is a mega port, around which 7000 jobs are concentrated and 15 million tons handled annually.

One motivation for the merger was to ensure prerequisites for transit traffic. The new HaminaKotka port also brings flex-ibility and decreases the need for investments. As a transit route Finland is safe, competent and cost-efficient.

Finland’s most important passenger port is Helsinki. Of al-most 13 million passengers, close to 10 million was the share of Finland’s capital city. Turku had almost three million passengers. Naantali, Vaasa and Lappeenranta came far behind but have re-gional significance with tens of thousands of passengers each.

In addition to sea ports, Finland country has an abundance of lakes. Inland ports can be accessed by foreign shipping through the Saimaa channel.

On the average Finnish ports are quite small. From time to time, there has been discussion, if there are too many and too small ports. However, there are no concrete plans to reduce the number of ports.


logistics


Baltic Port Barometer

Cargo volumes are increasing in many Finnish ports. In larger terms, the Turku-based Centre for Maritime Studies, unit of the University of Turku, has developed Baltic Port Barometer, which not only tells the current situation, but gives guidelines about future cargo volumes.

The Baltic Port Barometer is a survey designed to provide short-term trend information on Baltic Sea port development, by assessing business and traffic prospects across the Baltic Sea region. The barometer comprises a set of qualitative information that is collected from top-level port authority representatives in the Baltic Sea region. A total of 49 seaport authorities around the Baltic Sea participated in the third Baltic Port Barometer survey, conducted during two months in June-August 2010.

Respondents of the newest barometer were almost unani-mous in their views of the development of economy in the Baltic Sea region and of the development of their own cargo volumes: approximately nine out of ten are expecting growth for 2011. The short-term outlook had improved notably since last year al-though most ports foresee only moderate growth for 2011.

More ports report future capacity increases and port invest-ments compared with the previous year’s barometer. Over half report that the capacity in their port will increase in 2011. Simi-larly, over half foresee higher investments in their port for 2011. Another notable short-term trend was the increase in the size of vessels visiting ports since the beginning of 2009. This trend has been seen also in Finnish seaports.

All in all, 49 ports participated in The Baltic Port Port Ba-rometer survey. The ports were divided as big ( more than 10 million tons), middle-sized ( 2-10 million tons) and small (less than 2 million). Based on this classification, Finland has only three big ports, the combined HaminaKotka, Helsinki and oil port Sköldvik.

www.balticportlist.com

Low-sulphur challenge

The barometer showed that ports’ expectations for this year were quite positive. However, most ports expected to go back to peak cargos only in 2012 or even 2013, not 2011.

However, some obstacles are seen even after recovery. In 2015 the highest sulphur content allowed

in ship fule will decrease to 0.1 % ( MARPOL Convention). Most barometer respondents believed that there will be de-crease in either in total cargo volumes or in specific cargo types in their port. Most often mentioned cargo type to decline in vol-umes was ro-ro.Nevertheless one third foresaw no changes due to switch to low sulphur fuels in 2015.

Shipowners association

Finnish Shipowners´ Associations (FSA) history goes back to the May 1917 when Confederation of Finnish Shipping was found-ed. For several reasons this association was in the end divided to three different associations. These were Finnish Shipowners´ Association, Ålands Redarförening and Cargoship Association. 28th April 2008 these three association were finally merged back to one association.

FSA is a trade organization representing Finnish shipown-ers when dealing with the Finnish Government, Parliament, various authorities and stakeholders, as well as with the me-dia. The Finnish Shipowners´ Association is also an employer organization which concludes collective wage agreements with the seamen´s unions. FSA handles all matters concerning com-petitive ability, employment, safety, security and training within the shipping industry. Finnish Shipowners´ Association has 24 members. Practically every Finnish shipowner that is engaged in international traffic belongs to the association.

www.varustamoyhdistys.fi

Straightway is an association which takes care of some market-ing and representa-tive work for Finnish transhipment logistics companies. It’s also the main framework for the companies to meet each other face to face.

Text: Simo RaittilaPhotos: Straightway

Open the world logistics

with Straightway

The Executive Director Elina Multanen explains why the cooperation network is so important to the market: “At

worst there’s so little knowledge about the Finnish situation that some Fareastern for-eigners even think that the whole country is closed during the winter. This is of course a false rumour.”

This shows that communication is poor. Ac-cording to Multanen, the most efficient route to Western Russia is from Finland. The Finnish companies are trustworthy, and the ports are not as congested and troubled with ice as those in St. Petersburg from time to time.

Straightway is the only organisation that pro-motes the transit route through Finland. It has been on the job since the year 1996, when the Kymenlaak-so Chamber of Commerce started it as a program. In 2003 the program continued its life as an associa-tion. Now it stands firm with 53 members. "Finland’s strengths are safety and speed. There are few surprises in the country and the costs can be calculated reliably." says Elina Multanen.

Open the world logistics

with Straightway

TheExecutiveDirectorElinaMultanen

16


logistics


Sharing knowledge

Though Straightway is a network of com-panies and does lobbying, its activities are more about company co-operation. Tra-ditionally companies have been skimpy in sharing their knowledge, but Multanen thinks that time has changed.

“The sharing of knowledge and con-versation between companies is the most important reason for our members’ par-ticipation. Increased co-operation means

being stronger and bigger together.”She also points out that since logistics

are overly global, there is not really that much need to compete between differ-ent areas. Straightway has visited “rival” ports, finding out how they do things. These excursions have also had an in-vestment potential for some members. Recently the association has done market research in India.

According to Multanen, there are no reasons to keep secret in transhipment. Companies of all sizes are going along.

The sharing of knowledge and con-versation between companies is the most important rea-son for our members’ participation.”


Creating opportunities

Straightway itself is part of some bigger organisations. One of them is a similar network in Hamburg. A single Finnish company is too small to get itself seen at bigger foreign expositions. Through Straightway, those firms get to tag along with big companies.

Since Straightway is not a company, it is not offering its services for profit. A potential member should not think that its marketing can be outsourced to the association. Straightway offers opportunities. It organises fair stands, customer meetings and networking, but not business.

“The most active members are small and medium enterprises,” tells Mul-tanen. “We listen to our members and their customers, react quickly to the circumstances and keep our members updated.”

Transit traffic has been profitable and its effect on employment is re-markable. Hence, Multanen wishes that the governments would not put exces-sive barriers to trade. Taking care of in-frastructure such as the quality of roads and reliability in crossing the border are in everyone’s best interest.

“When the economy gets back on its feet, the traffic will increase sooner or later. Now it is the perfect time to put things in order,” Multanen nearly demands. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Goods are yet to travel freely in the world.” n

www.straightway.fi

kotka - hamina - kouvola transit route


Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Sini Pennanen and Helsingin satama

The Port of Helsinki operates on a landlord basis in goods traffic. “This means that we administer and develop the port areas as

well as the connected enterprise areas,” says Managing Director of the Port of Helsinki, Mr. Heikki Nisinen.

“The Port of Helsinki is also responsi-ble for the maintenance of technical sys-tems in the port and organises the traffic.

The Port of Helsinki is the pri-mary hub for global goods flowing to and from Fin-land. At the same time, Helsinki is the third big-gest passenger port in northern Europe.

lsinki- Finland’s Premier Port

Enterprises in the area offer various ser-vices that concern the handling of goods.”

“For example, shipping companies develop new services. St Peter Line has been relatively successful in offering new services between Helsinki and St. Peters-burg. The Helsinki–Gdynia route was opened two years ago. Extensive liner services connect Helsinki with the big-gest Baltic and North Sea ports.”

e



lsinki

Helsinki is a very competitive route for shipment to and from St. Petersburg, Moscow, the rest of Russia and the CIS countries. Most of the vessels also carry a significant number of trucks and trailers.

“Yet when it comes to cargos, our transit traffic to Russia and CIS countries is limited, but by no means insignificant. On paper its value is 3 percent, but in fact it is at least double of this. It is sometimes

difficult to classify, whether the cargo is transit or reselling to Russia.”

“Imports mainly consist of consumer durables like household appliances and foodstuffs, as well as semifinished prod-ucts for the industry. About 65 percent of import cargos transported through our ports are consumer goods. Exports com-prise machines, metal industry and wood processing products.”

In 2010, the total cargo traffic was 10.9 million tons, of which bulk cargo was lit-tle more than one million tons. The year 2011 started well for the Port of Hel-sinki. “In January and February we have had more than 10 percent growth on the cargo side. If this continues, we will reach the pre-recession level of 2008. Imports have developed better than exports,” says Nissinen.



VUOSAARI PROSPECTS

Almost all cargo traffic consists of uni-tised cargo. Imports and exports are well in balance.

“Good balance in exports and imports is especially important in container traf-fic. This ensures a steady supply of read-ily available containers. When containers are to a large extent full in both direc-tions, transportation is more cost-effec-tive,” says Heikki Nissinen.

Containers are handled at the state-of-the-art Vuosaari harbour, which was opened by the Port of Helsinki in 2008. The logistics area is fully integrated with harbour operations.

“Vuosaari was from the very begin-ning designed to serve unitised cargo – cargo shipped on trucks, trailers and in containers. The harbour also serves break bulk and special transports.”

In total, the maximum annual capac-ity of the Vuosaari harbour is 1.2 million TEUs and 800 000 trucks and trailers. “The maximum capacity is not needed in the near future. The port does not thus have any large investment plans, but ad-joining logistics area is still developing strongly.”

The development of the northern sec-tion of the logistics area (Logistics area N) is the responsibility of Sponda Oyj, which is building some new terminals. The southern section (Logistics area S) is

ManagingDirectorofthePortofHelsinki,Mr.HeikkiNisinen



occupied by Nurminen Logistics Oyj. The railway logistics area is being de-

veloped in the west part of the logistics area. There is also a new intermodal ter-minal, estimated to be ready during this year.

“The port and the Swiss company Bertschi signed an agreement, accord-ing to which the Swiss company builds a railway terminal in Vuosaari, with a space of 15 000 m2 and 940 TEU. The loading area for trains is 270 meters long,” says Nissinen.

The railway logistics area is 6.5 hec-tares and can later be developed to have more equipment and terminals. Com-bined transport solutions will thus be easier in the future.

Rail connection to Vuosaari harbour is used especially for carrying unitised cargos, for example, paper in containers. However, rubber-wheeled traffic is much more important than rail transportation.

ONE MILLION CARS

In addition to cargos, the Port of Helsinki has exceptionally strong passenger flow. Being a major hub in passenger traffic, it is Finland’s busiest passenger port, and one of the largest in northern Europe.

“About half of the port’s income comes from passengers and half from cargos,” says Nissinen.

Around 10 million passengers pass through the port every year. In 2010, the Port of Helsinki carried 9.7 million pas-sengers on regular routes. In addition to this, 340 000 cruise passengers visited Helsinki.

The number of passenger cars on fer-ries at the Port of Helsinki was 930 000 in 2010. This year more than one million cars will cross the Gulf of Finland either to Tallinn or to Helsinki.

The South Harbour and West Har-bour serve regularly scheduled passenger

ferry traffic. The South Harbour has lines to and from Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Stockholm. There are also less frequent connections to Travemünde, Rostock and Gdynia.

In 2010, the growth in Estonian pas-senger traffic was about 8 percent. In the first two months of 2011, the figure is even two-digit, about 14 percent.

“Possibly this is partly because of the introduction of euro in Estonia. But a kind of consumers border trade is quite often vivid, no matter which currency



is used. For example, Sweden–Denmark and Denmark–Germany passenger trav-elling is doing well,” says Nissinen.

On a Helsinki–Stockholm route only some 100 000 cars are carried.

IMAGE BONUS WITH CRUISE SHIPS

The West Harbour has a total of three berths for cruise vessels. The longest one is situated on the Hernesaari side of the West Harbour. This largest Hernesaari berth can even accommodate the big-gest cruise vessels sailing on the Baltic Sea. Part of cruise ships anchor at the South Harbour, but this harbour can-not take ships longer than 230 meters. About 80 percent of cruise ships anchor at Hernesaari or Länsisatama (West Har-bour),

From the point of view of the port, cruise ship traffic is not financially very profitable. “It is more or less break-even, but in the long run it makes sense, says Nissinen.

“First of all, it creates interest in Hel-sinki. It is a kind of an image bonus. Those who have visited Helsinki will spread the message around. Some may return for a longer holiday.”

During 2011, about 270 cruise ships will visit Helsinki. If the cruise ship does not use any terminal, the port fee is lower. Passenger fee is charged only when pas-sengers are transferred.

Vuosaari’s main operators

The Vuosaari harbour hosts a great num-ber of logistics service providers offer-ing various value-added services. These companies include shipping lines, port operators, forwarding companies, as well as warehouses, terminals and container depots.

The largest cargo handling operators are Finnsteve, Multi-Link Terminals Ltd. and Steveco’s Vuosaari unit. Finnsteve’s

including temperature-controlled containers and IMDG containers.

Steveco’s handling capac-ity is 400 000 TEU and up to 150 000 trailers. Ware-housing, stuffing and stripping of contain-ers are options. n

handling capacity is 600 000 TEU and 420 000 trailers. Container depot storage is 7 500 units. There are 180 reefer plugs and IMDG units, except classes 1, 6 and 7. Warehousing facilities are varied.

Multi-Link Terminals Ltd. does load-ing and unloading, container yard opera-tions, storing and releasing containers,

www.portofhelsinki.fi



DirectorofC&CPortAgencyFinlandLtd.,RolandForssell

For the first time in recent history, everybody can travel to Russia from Europe by sea, on board a Russian passenger ship, without the time-consuming process of a visa application.”

ST. PETER LINE’S SUCCESS

Roland Forssell is the Director of C & C Port Agency Finland Ltd., which is a branch office of St. Peter Line in Finland. He says that the new St. Peters-burg–Helsinki ferry line has fulfilled expectations already during the first year of opera-tion.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Sini Pennanen, Peter Line Traffic between Helsinki and St. Petersburg

started in April 2010, and the route has proved to be a success. The ferry Princess Maria was leased from Denmark and has been totally re-

furbished. “We had an average of 680 passengers on one voyage in

the winter time. In the summer season from May to Sep-tember the figure will climb to more than 1000 passengers, according to preliminary reservations,” notes Forssell.

In the winter season about 70 percent of passengers were from Russia. Finns have made up 25 percent and the category “others” 5 percent. Roland Forssell says that in the summer the share of Finns and the group of “others” will grow, as was the case in the summer 2010.

“Already now we have had, for example, groups of

Venice of the North

invites travellers


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Chinese, who want to see the great his-toric city. Our partner Beier Travel has arranged packages to our Chinese cus-tomers.”

Also many Italians are eager to see St. Petersburg. Many renowned architects who have designed the city St. Petersburg were in fact Italians, so especially archi-tects have visited the city.

Visa-free trips

In Forssell’s view, St. Peter Line’s passenger ship M/S Princess Maria opened a new era in regular passenger traffic between Europe and Russia. One key to success has been visa-free travelling. Getting a visa to Rus-sia takes some efforts and is at least time-consuming.

“For the first time in recent history, eve-rybody can travel to Russia from Europe by sea, on board a Russian passenger ship, without the time-consuming process of a visa application.”


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“Visa-free trips of 72 hours are available to all nationalities. However, those coming outside of the Schengen area must ensure that they have a double- or multi-entry visa to Schengen area. So they can return to the Schengen countries,” reminds Forssell.

In practice 72 hours means two nights in hotels and almost three whole days in St. Petersburg. “We have cooperation with Sokos Hotels, a Finnish hotel chain, which has three hotels in the city.”

To get a visa-free status, a passenger needs a hotel or hostel voucher to state that he/she stays overnight in St. Petersburg.

“However, visa-free trips are not the main reason for success. The largest travel

group Russians still have to obtain a Schen-gen visa for their trip. The most important key issue has been successful marketing in Russia.”

Because of the success St. Peter Line has plans to introduce another ferry on Helsin-ki–St. Petersburg route. This would ensure daily connections. No decisions have been made yet.

Entertainment onboard

Another key to success has certainly been the word-of-mouth phenomena: those who have taken te sea journey to Helsinki or St. Petersburg have spread the message

to others. Finns appreciate the grand cul-ture of St. Petersburg.

“Younger people have found the city an interesting party town. And to Rus-sians, Helsinki is an interesting travel and shopping destination. Furthermore, the ship, Princess Maria itself is an ex-citing experience to Russians who are not so used to cruise ferry product,” says Forssell.

The passenger-cargo ferry Princess Maria was originally built as Silja Line’s Finlandia in 1981. She was totally rebuilt in 2009 before entering services with St. Peter Line. The operator of the ferry line, St. Peter Line is registered also in EU.


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The ferry can take more than 1 600 pas-sengers. In practice the figure is a little smaller.

The ferry has a sauna, swimming pools, good conference and meeting fa-cilities as well as an excellent set of res-taurants and bars, including the Seven Seas Buffet and Sky Bar.

“There is a restaurant with a Russian menu, as well as a duty-free shop and a small gift shop with Russian products and souvenirs. And there is the Inter-national Show by Russian artists at the ship’s Night Club Columbus – every sin-gle night.

“We have naturally some of the same elements as other ferry companies do, for example, the high-quality Swedish table, swimming pool, sauna, good play-grounds for kids, but we have a special atmosphere onboard. For example, in the night club you can dance with a profes-sional dancer.

“Technical personnel mainly consist of Lithuanians, while the service per-sonnel are mostly Estonians, almost all of whom can speak English, Finnish and

Russian, in addition to Estonian language. More than 90 percent of our service staff has been working in Silja, Tallink or some other renowned shipping companies, so they are true professionals,” says Forssell.

New alternatives

St. Peter did much benchmarking before launching the line.

“We also aim to offer new alternatives to our passengers. For example, not all want to do a return trip. We have talked with Finnish Railways VR about coop-erating with St. Petersburg traffic. Pas-senger can, for example, do a sea journey from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, and re-turn to Finland by rail. This suits tourists who want to see much in a short time, at the same time enjoying the special at-mosphere onboard.”

New groups are sought. “We do not have many business travellers, but in principle our concept suits them also, since one can spend the whole day in St. Petersburg or Helsinki and return on the same ferry in the evening.”

28

“Princess Maria’s seminar and confer-ence facilities are excellent, and many or-ganisations and companies have used the opportunity to have trainings and prod-uct launchings. Once even the car deck was made into a meeting place,” says Ro-land Forssell.

“What delights us is that so many fam-ilies with children have found our servic-es. Sightseeing tours are arranged by us in St. Petersburg and Helsinki.”

At the moment Princess Maria does not carry significant number of cargo, but it is possible to carry a passenger car to or from Russia, and continue journey by car from one’s port destination. In the future trucks possibly could be carried too, but at the moment the situation is open.

In Helsinki the company operates in Makasiini Terminaali in the very heart of Helsinki. The general sales agent is Nor-dic Ferry Center (www.ferrycenter.fi). n

www.stpeterline.com

STOCKHOLM–TALLINN LAUNCHED St. Peter Line also just recently opened up also Stockholm–

Tallinn–St. Petersburg route, which started in April this year, with the Princess Anastasia ferry, which was previously known

as Viking Olympia. Later it was Irish Ferries’ “Pride of Bilbao”. “It was renamed as “Princess Anastasia” and extensively renovat-

ed before entering into the route to maximize passengers’ comfort and to meet the requirements of international conventions of safety

and environment protection,” says Forssell.Princess Anastasia” is a modern passenger ferry with the gross

tonnage of 38 000. She can accommodate up to 2 353 passengers. The cruise ferry features 834 cabins of different types and price cat-egories, and the car deck can accommodate up to 580 vehicles. Travel time is 25 hours. The new ferry departs from Stockholm twice a week.

“With our Stockholm–St. Petersburg–Tallinn line we partly com-pete with Helsinki–Stockholm and Turku–Stockholm routes, but they carried last year 500 000 Russian passengers, whereas our

figure will be smaller than this. I believe there is space for over-all growth. New traffic is generated by the ferry.

“From Sweden we are also allowed to carry freight, and I believe that we will also get Swedish passengers. Rus-

sians will certainly use the Stockholm–St. Petersburg–Tallinn route. This kind of cruising on a regular route

is quite new to Russians. We have had the same concept in Stockholm–Helsinki traffic for

decades,” reminds Forssell.

With us you can protect the environment and still arrive faster.”

The Most Modern

Cargo Fleet on the Baltic Sea

Tallink Silja claims that they are on the top of the sea game on the Baltic Sea. There are big changes coming up in the future, but the company has taken a head start.

Text: Simo Raittila Photos: Tallink Silja


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Tallink Silja Cargo is part of the Tallink Grupp’s concern. The company carries over 270 000 units of cargos on annual

basis, and has the most extensive network within the Baltic Sea area.

After the Superfast-ferries leave the line Helsinki–Rostock and are chartered to Stena in August 2011, the company will focus their energy on the most dynamic and central part of their business. The tri-angle between Finland, Sweden and Esto-nia is already the company’s main route. There are six departures in both directions between Helsinki and Tallinn each day.

According to the Director of Tallink Silja Cargo Håkan Fagerström, the re-cession came and went. Exports from Es-tonia to Sweden have seen such a rise that the company is considering adding more cargo capacity for the route. Most of the cargo meters are on the trips between Helsinki and Tallinn, while most of the revenue comes from the Finland–Sweden route.

The AS Tallink Grupp has had a ma-jor influence on the Finnish labor market. They have supported the Finnish ship-building industries with approximately 7 200 man-years, by building the six newest

ships in STX Europe wharfs. That is why Tallink Silja has the youngest and most modern fleet in the area.

“What we’re selling is the departure frequency and quality. If the customer’s credit is clean, they can have their car-go onboard on the same day when they come to ask,” Fagerström explains. For smaller amounts of cargos and with cash the process is even faster. In co-opera-tion with other companies, Tallink Silja is able to offer an “Europe packet,” which has the route to, e.g., Germany even in the future. This means that the driver buys the connecting trip using Tallink

Most of the cargo meters are on the trips between Helsinki and Tallinn, while most of the revenue comes from the Finland–Sweden route."


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Silja’s contract, which makes things much easier, especially for smaller com-panies.

Co-operation is today’s must. Fager-ström thinks that it is important to par-ticipate in the shipping union’s activities since they help in networking and shield-ing companies’ interests in legislation.

Tallink Grupp is multifaceted. Beside the extensive sea network, they also have their own taxi company Tallink Takso and a multi-hotel chain. Tallink Silja Cargo is but 12 percent of their activi-ties. Yet, that is 120 to 140 million euros per year.

In-house quality

The company has a tradition of doing activities such as stevedoring in-house. Though this means synergy benefits, the minor monetary savings are not the rea-son.

“It’s even impossible to compare the quality and service of our in-house to an outside service,” tells Fagerström. “You can demand more from your own em-ployees and communicate better with them.”

The company’s high level of training has led to a situation where it has, e.g., the

best know-how in the handling of dan-gerous goods. This has helped some of their customers even when they are using a competing service.

Head start to the future

The environment lies close to Tallink Silja and their complete fleet is ISO 14001 environment certified. This is important to many bigger transport companies and ethically-aware firms. “On request we can provide our customers with ‘footprint calculations’ and emission analyses.”

“We have also used the low-sulphur-


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ous fuel for a long time already. It is even more than two times better than what all the norms demand,” Fagerström contin-ues. “‘Arrive faster and still protect the environment’ is one of our slogans I’m fond of using.”

Fagerström believes that the European route Via Baltica, officially known as E67 from Tallinn to Warszawa, is going to be more important. “If the sulfur emission (Marpol Annex VI) limitations go through as it seems to, we will face a modal

change from Sea to Road with about 25 to 30 percent of the Baltic Traffic,” Fager-ström concludes.

While the growth on the Tallinn–Hel-sinki route seems inevitable, the specu-lation about the North East Passage, an


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Routes and ships on the route:

Stockholm – Turku 3Stockholm – Helsinki 2Stockholm – Riga 2Stockholm – Tallinn 2Kapellskär – Paldiski 1Helsinki – Tallinn 3---

Helsinki – Rostock (until August) 2

arctic sea route, is a bit more uncertain. It would mean a radical change in the manner how goods travel between Eu-rope, Asia and America and a growth in transit through Finland. Fagerström has heard that some Americans have already invested in the Russian Murmansk area, and that there are a lot of working groups on the topic. n

www.tallinksilja.com


Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: SeaRail Oy

SeaRail links Finland to Scandinavia and the rest of Europe via the train fer-ry route between Stockholm and Turku. “It is my belief that shorter sea trans-ports - such as our train ferry line – will be more competitive in the future,” says Krister Sigfrids, Managing Director of SeaRail Ltd..

The main goods carried by SeaRail link are forest industry products – especially paper and pulp – and steel. Also chemicals and packaging products are transported and

stored if needed.“SeaRail sells door to door rail freight. We collect

the goods from the sender, take it by rail to the har-bour, and change the axles on the wagons to European axles because of the different gauge in Finland,” de-scribes Krister Sigfrids.

The wagon is shipped by the train ferry to Stock-holm. The crossing takes 10,5 hours. From there it is then pulled to the receiver, either in Sweden or almost any other European country.

Turku is the backbone of SeaRail’s Finnish opera-tions. “In Turku we have short-term warehousing pos-sibilities as well as our head office. From Turku we control our wagon fleet. We do have good warehousing and terminal facilities in Turku.”

“We also reload goods between Finnish or Russian

wagons and European wagons. When a customer is not rail-connected, we also reload to or from trucks. In Turku harbour we can change the axles or bogies on the wagons,” says Sig-frids.

In addition to Turku, SeaRail has strong presence in some other Finnish cities. “We have concentrated on our Eastern traffic handling to Helsinki, where we have a small office. In Tampere we have a terminal opened 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We handle the logistics in Tampere, for example, for

Rail link to Russia and Europe


M-Real’s Tako factory, which is one of the few large industrial plants in the very heart of the city in Finland. We also have two sales offices in Sweden, one in Stockholm and the other in Hels-ingborg.”

Insight in business

Russian operations are important for SeaRail. “We signed a co-operation agreement about the traffic between Scandinavia and

SeaRail sells door to door products. We collect the goods from the sender, take it by rail to the har-bour, and change the axles on the wagons to Europe-an axles because of the different gauge in Finland.”

Russia and the former CIS-countries in 2010 with Pervaja Grus-ovaja Kompanja (PGK).”

“The situation regarding our Russian partners has changed. Today we co-operate with FOS (Freight One Scandinavia) and CTS (ContainerTrans Scandinavia). Both these companies are 50 percent owned by VR, as we are.”

In addition to VR, SeaRail Oy is owned by Swedish Green Cargo. “Both Green Cargo and VR are of course our biggest suppliers, as we put together our products from rail transports


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bought from these two companies. Being owned by them ensures that our owners have insight in our business and under-stands our challenges.”

Flexible transloading

Because of the difference in rail gauges in Finland and Sweden/continental Europe, SeaRail uses specially equipped bogie changeable wagons. “SeaRail operates with both axle changeable wagons and “normal” European wagons. When a cus-tomer wants his/her goods to be trans-ported without reloading between differ-ent wagons, we supply an axle changeable

wagon for him/her. The actual change of axles is done at our axle change station in Turku. Depending on the wagon type, the change takes only 5 to 10 minutes per wagon.”

Reloading is done either between Eu-ropean and Finnish (or Russian) wagons, or from trucks to wagons.

SeaRail is also prepared for unex-pected situations. Last year, the train ferry between Stockholm and Turku was docked for a bigger service reparation. During the traffic stop SeaRail Oy rerout-ed the railway transports via Tornio and Haparanda.

“Fortunately the ferry is in good shape

and traffic stops are not common. During the winter the number of departures is reduced so that the ferry has some spare time in case there should be problems with ice. Some goods are being transport-ed via Tornio and Haparanda even when there is ferry in traffic. This is the case, for instance, with some dangerous goods.”

“The route around the Gulf of Botnia is very long. It is not competing with the train ferry – it is rather a complement to our train ferry products.”

Environmental awareness

SeaRail is competitive also thanks to its good transportation equipment.

“We use a very effective axle change-able closed wagon, the Laais. It can load up to 213 cubic meters and takes 61,5 tonnes. This means that one wagon equals two truck loads.”

“We also have special wagons for coils and other steel products. We have tank wagons and all sorts of customer- or rail-

We use a very effective axle changeable closed wagon, the Laais. It can load up to 213 cubic meters and takes 61,5 tonnes. This means that one wagon equals to one truck load.”


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way-owned wagons. For open wagons we use Smnps and Smps. By linking several open wagons we can also transport very long products, for example, up to 120 meters long rails,” says Krister Sigfrids.

He also says that rail transports are the most suitable for heavy industry prod-ucts.

“Our volumes are closely linked to what happens in the heavy industry sec-tor in Finland. However, the new rules regarding sulphur content in ship bunker oil will probably change the situation in a few years’ time. I believe that shorter sea transports like our train ferry line will become more competitive. A larger part of the flow of goods between Europe and Finland will take the route via Sweden. Environmental awareness is also grow-ing amongst the industry, and rail trans-

port is clearly the most environmentally friendly means of transport,” says Sig-frids.

“Environmental management is part of SeaRail’s comprehensive management system. This system is also supported by our quality system based on ISO 9001 standard.”

“We observe all valid legislation and regulations in our operations. The meth-ods of operation are evaluated regularly, and by observing ISO 14001 standard, we strive to make continuous improve-ments to minimize the resulting envi-ronmental load. The management sys-tem extends to all company operations in Finland, and the aim for the future is to expand the system to all other com-pany offices as well.” n

www.searail.net


Meriaura specializes in marine transport of raw materials and general cargo for industrial pur-

poses, as well as providing transport so-lutions for project cargoes. Jussi Mälkiä and his friends started the company in 1986.The business was small and irregu-lar at first, and the “fleet” only consisted of one tug boat.

Text: Klaus Susiluoto Photos: Sini Pennanen and Meriaura

Meriaura Group

Turku-based Meriaura Group has in-depth experiences in shipping. The group has also a strong presence in other branches related to marine logistics.

“We foresaw business op-portunities in smaller-scale sea freight business, with smaller vessels and flex-ible approaches,” says Jussi Mälkiä, one of the founders and main owners of Meriau-ra Group.

– SHIPPING WITH CARE AND ACCURACY



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“The collapse of the Soviet Union and structural changes in Finnish industry opened up new business opportunities. There was a greater demand for smaller vessels to carry industrial bulk, raw mate-rials and demanding project cargo.”

“At that time in the late 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s, we were about ten rather young men, who foresaw some business opportunities in smaller-scale sea freight business, with smaller vessels and flexible approaches.”

Jussi Mälkiä is the main owner at the moment, and chairman of the board of the Meriaura Group. “We still have about 10 owners. Part of original owners has changed, but we are still a private com-pany, independent of large shipping com-panies. Our competitors are mainly large central European companies.”

MERIAURA GROUP

Now the main business areas of the Meriaura Group are marine transport (Meriaura Oy), ship management (VG-Shipping) and logistics in ship building industry (Pernotrans Oy). VG-Shipping Ltd. focuses on crew management, tech-nical management and safety systems, financial management, new building supervision as well as purchases and de-liveries. The Group’s affiliate Biota Tech Oy provides expert consultancy in envi-ronmental technology in shipping, and Sybimar Oy focuses on bio fuels. Ab Gaiamare Oy is the owner of several of the group’s ships.

The official parent company of the Meriaura Group is Aura Mare Ltd..

Meriaura Group companies employ almost 300 people, and almost the same amount work in partnering companies on a daily basis. Group’s vessels together car-ry about 2.5 million tonnes annually. The vessels operate around Europe, primarily in the Baltic Sea and North Sea areas.

GOOD OPERATIONAL CULTURE

“This is by no means an easy job. Industri-al companies know how to have the best

JussiMälkiä,oneofthefoundersandmainownersofMeriauraGroup


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offers from shipping companies in North Europe. We have succeeded thanks to our good operational culture. We have built dynamic partnerships with our custom-ers and been able to react to sometimes rapid changes in the economy.”

“For example, we have delivered wind mill transition pieces from Lubmin in North Germany to Barrow-in-Furness on Great Britain’s West coast. Each transi-tion piece is 26 meters high and weight 300 mt. Pieces had to be delivered in up-right position and the schedule was tight, but we could succeed pretty well."

“From time to time, we hire capacity from the market. Prices are rather rea-sonable compared to the situation several years ago. On the other hand, fuel prices are on the increase again.

“More than half of our traffic is based on long-term agreements, with fixed prices that naturally can be checked if some factors like changes in fuel prices. Our customers consist of mid-size and large industrial enterprisers. In terms of turnover, projects are one fourth of our operations – very important thus.

“Meriaura carries recycling materials,

fertilisers, minerals, but not liquid bulk. We operate in almost all Finnish ports and several other ones in North Europe, mainly in the Nordic and Baltic coun-tries, but also in North Sea and Russia.

“Meriaura has opened new markets in offshore wind farm structure deliveries. We intend to continue this development with our partners.”

FLEET OF 14 SHIPS

The main part of Meriaura’s ships are owned by the group companies, but some others are leased.

“We invest in renewing our fleet. The most newly build is m/v Aura I, which was finished in 2008 and cost approxi-mately 25 million euro,” says Jussi Mälkiä.

“Of our fleet, m/v Aura I is best suited to special cargo requirements like wind-mill parts. In order to meet future market requirements, a similar newly build ves-sel as the multi-purpose open deck car-rier has been ordered. Its working name is Aura II.”

“The future ship resembles our previ-ous Aura I – it can go as an ice-breaker,

stern foremost; it can also be used as a collecting vessel in oil-spills and is very energy-efficient. But in m/v Aura II bio fuel engine is something really new. There is no such vessel at the moment.” (For more information on this innovative multi-purpose vessel, see the related ar-ticle).

Some months ago Meriaura fleet grew with three more modern dry-cargo ships. These vessels – m/v Banier (dwcc 3600), m/v Tanja (dwcc 4400) and m/v Adele (dwcc 3000) – increased the number of vessels operated by Meriaura to 14 ships. Of these, mv Banier is the newest, built in 2009.

SHIPS WITH BIO POWER

Jussi Mälkiä believes that in the future, sustainably produced bio fuels intend to constitute an important part of ship transportation energy.

“Meriaura and the whole group will continue working on the environmental issues. We have set strict targets for in-creased use of renewable energy and re-duced carbon dioxide emissions. We are


also active in developing and implement-ing new sustainable forms of energy. We are committed to reducing carbon diox-ide emissions relative to transport vol-umes by 20 percent in three years,” says Jussi Mälkiä.

“We observe the bio fuels business keenly. Our new vessel will use bio oil and we believe this business is enlarging quite rapidly within the next 20 years or so.”

“There are promising concepts, like making bio fuels out of wastes. To achieve the objectives of bio fuels in larger scale, the group’s ships will start using bio fuels made of fish waste. The fuel is manufac-tured by Sybimar Ltd., and we are also in-volved in setting up fish waste-based bio fuel production in Iceland. One partner is Finnish company ST 1, who also manu-factures bio fuels out of waste (not fish waste).”

NEW MULTI-PURPOSE VESSEL

In March 2011, Meriaura Group compa-ny Gaiamare Ltd. and STX Finland Oy signed a contract for the construction of an innovative and versatile, multi-purpose deck cargo vessel. The ship will be built at Turku shipyard for deliv-ery in spring 2012 and has a length of 105 meters and width of 19 meters.

This advanced vessel has been de-signed for transportation of demand-ing project cargos, such as offshore wind farm structures, and is also suita-ble for transporting energy wood in the Baltic Sea region. The vessel will have numerous innovations and very high specifications. It is equipped with dy-namic positioning and DASTM (Double Acting Ship) systems, enabling precise and energy efficient operation even in winter ice conditions. The Finnish–

Swedish ice class 1A vessel will be the first DAS dry cargo vessel in the Baltic Sea. The vessel will operate under Finn-ish flag.

The vessel has been designed also for oil spill response missions and has 2700 m3 of oil recovery capacity, al-most doubling the current capacity of Finland.

The diesel electric engines can be operated with recycled bio oil. Due to two electric rudder propellers and two bow thrusters, the ship can also run sideways in open water, enabling even more efficient oil recovery.

“This is a significant step on our way to becoming the leading opera-tor in sustainable energy logistics in the Northern Europe. Ecology, sustainabil-ity and economy are vital values in the development of our company,” says Jussi Mälkiä. n

www.meriaura.fi

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OLKILUOTO AND TOLKKINEN PORTS

ATMOSMARE FOUNDATIONAtmosmare foundation is an organisation which develops and tests methods and techniques to minimise the negative effects of climate changes. The foundation was founded by Aura Mare Ltd., but several other companies are involved too.

Atmosmare is currently building up its capacity to conduct experiments in the Arctic Region. The foundation has also start-ed a project which tests in practise how to combine carbon and nutrient capture. This project will give valuable experienc-es for future efforts to fight against both climate changes and eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. n

www.atmosmare.fi

The company also has a private port in Olkiluoto, just next to Finland’s largest nuclear power plant, and is about to run another port in Tolkkinen.

In the Olkiluoto port, the largest share of turnover comes from bulk and recycling materials, but the port has been used also in delivering equipment to OL 3, which will be the world’s largest nuclear power reactor. In Olkiluoto the draft is 6 meters.

Meriaura Group together with Prima Shipping Group pur-chased from Stora Enso the Tolkkinen port area located near Porvoo, 50 kilometres from Helsinki. A newly formed compa-ny, the Port of Tolkkinen Ltd., is the owner of the port facilities.

Property in Tolkkinen consists of a total of 12,5 hectares of land and water areas, 180 meters quay, office building and approximately 19 000 m2 of warehouse space. Road connec-tions are excellent and the fairway leading to the port has a draft of 7,5 meters. n

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ManagingDirectorJussiKoivusalo

Victor Ek’s international moving services include all stages of the move, not only a door-to-door service, but from an old home to a new home."


Victor Ek Strongly on the Move

Moving, shipping, forwarding and ship’s clear-ance are the main services offered by the Vic-tor Ek Group. “I have worked in many different business branches, but I feel that logistics is es-pecially close to my heart,” says Managing Di-rector Jussi Koivusalo, who started with Victor Ek in October 2009.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Sini Pennanen, Victor Ek


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The companies Victor Ek Ltd., Fennoscandia Charter-ing Ltd. and Shipek Ltd. be-long to the Victor Ek Group.

Of these, Victor Ek Ltd. specialises in domestic and international household moves as well as in office moves.

“Victor Ek’s international moving ser-vices include all stages of the move, not only a door-to-door service, but from an old home to a new home,” says Jussi Koi-vusalo.

“From the customer’s point of view, the most important thing is that his/her household is moved from one place to another with as few inconveniences as possible. A move to a foreign country can succeed best with an experienced part-ner, who knows the local surroundings and the various regulations of the coun-try of destination.”

“In moves, a customer usually pays according to cubic meters. In most cases, packaging, loading and unloading are

included in the move agreement. If the destination of the move is outside the Eu-ropean Union, Victor Ek will arrange for the customs clearance of the goods both in the country of departure and destina-tion,” says Jussi Koivusalo.

Pre-move survey

“Whether the customer moves in or out of Finland, the moving process starts with a pre-move survey”, says Jussi Koivusalo.

“In the survey we estimate the amount of goods to be moved and the packing materials needed. We present transport and timetable alternatives and inform the customer about the conditions and customs regulations in the country of destination. Based on the information gathered during this survey visit, we are able to present a budget.”

The customer would ask some ques-tions in his or her own mind first, such as which items should be sent by sea freight,

which by air, and whether some items can be left in the residence, or put them in storage provided by Victor Ek.

In more than 90 percent of cases, the employer pays the moves. Normal freight services are cheaper than special moving services, but they do not usually include packaging, insurance, etc..

“It is not always practical to drive to every destination country with our own trucks. In some cases smaller loads are packed in our warehouse into bigger wooden containers, which our own car-penter’s shop makes to measure.”

“These wooden containers are trans-ported by freight trucks to the terminals of Victor Ek’s partners, and from there to the final destination of our customers.”

“This way we can keep the costs rea-sonable and timetables fluent, when the move goes to a country where combined transport is not so frequent.”

“Tailor-made services are of the ut-most importance for us. Our customers

We also handle moves of Finns who return to Finland, and moves of business persons who move to Finland for job opportunities.”


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are in different life situations and with different life styles as well. It is quite typi-cal that a family with children wants to take almost all things from home. Then we have young couples and single per-sons, who move with fewer things.”

Global partner network

The partner network of Victor Ek covers the whole world.

“With the help of our partners we can take care of a household moving from anywhere to anywhere in the world. We are members of the most important international moving organisations. The monitored quality systems required by the membership also guarantee the quality and reliability of our international moves.

“For example, Victor Ek is the only FAIM certified moving company in Fin-land. The FAIM certificate is a quality certificate that is granted to members of the world-wide moving organisation FIDI. This certificate is the most demand-ing and strictest quality certificate of the moving business. It requires from the company high quality, financial solidity, a low claims percentage, customer satisfac-tion follow-up,” says Koivusalo.

“Victor Ek’s overseas department an-nually offers its services to an average of 1 500 families on the move. Thanks to economic dynamism of Asia, many Finns have found work opportunities there. But also South America is an important area nowadays.

“We also handle moves of Finns who return to Finland, and moves of business persons who move to Finland for job op-portunities.”

Shipping and forwarding services

Moves are about 50 percent of Victor Ek’s turnover, but forwarding and shipping play also a very important role. In terms of turnover, forwarding is about 30 per-cent and shipping 20 percent.

Victor Ek’s affiliate Fennoscandia Chartering has been active in interna-


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tional shipping since 1949. “Through its reliable shipping line representations we provide customers with tailor-made solu-tions to their various shipping require-ments. We can offer transports including tracking and documentation,” says Jussi Koivusalo.

Fennoscandia Chartering represents many shipping companies, for example, Indian SCI – Shipping Corporation of In-dia and Chilean CCNI – Compania Chil-ena de Navegacion Interoceanica, Santi-ago. Fennoscandia Chartering’s partners in the Baltic Sea and North Sea area in-clude Teamlines and Unifeeder, so feeder traffic of containers is easy to arrange to and from large ocean ports of Hamburg, Rotterdam, etc..

Shipek Ltd. is also part of the Victor Ek Group. The company specialises in ex-port and import transports of RoRo and High and Heavy (H/H) cargoes.

“In import transports from the US we represent in Finland both A.T.I, U.S.A. Inc. and the Norwegian company Höegh Autoliners A/S. We arrange the import of trucks, cars and boats from the US East Coast to Helsinki, Hamina and Kotka.

“We are also agents for large interna-tional shipping companies such as Chil-ean CSAV – Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores. We represent also the Dutch shipping company Van Uden Ro-Ro in Finland. The company operates regular connections from the Continent to the Mediterranean and North Africa, e.g., to France, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Egypt, Malta, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia.”

There is a weekly service from Finland to Bremerhaven with Mannlines’ vessel from Turku. Jussi Koivusalo reminds that Victor Ek can also offer ground transpor-tation solutions in EU area, as well as air freight solutions globally.

“Oy Victor Ek Ab belongs to a global FORCE network – Freight Organisa-tion of Related Cargo Experts. Through FORCE we can offer world-wide for-warding solutions through independent actors.” n

Oy Victor Ek Ab belongs to a global FORCE network – Freight Organisation of Related Cargo Experts. Through FORCE we can offer world-wide forwarding solutions through independent actors.”


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HISTORY OF VICTOR EK

In his time Commercial Counsellor Victor Ek was one of the most high-powered businessmen in Helsinki. In April 1885, he established a forwarding and shipping agency busi-ness in Helsinki. The main activities were the representation of liner shipping companies and moving services. Fazer and Paulig were involved in arranging shipping to secure the cost-competitive raw materials.

In 1910, Victor Ek started a coal import business to Fin-land from England and Germany. In 1915, Victor Ek started a passenger traffic service for the increasing stream of emigrants from Finland to America. In 1888, Victor Ek es-tablished a branch office in Hanko. A quarter of a century later, branch offices in Turku and Vaasa were also opened.

In 1997, part of the activities of the offices in Helsinki and Turku and all of the activities in Vaasa were sold as part of a company sales transaction. In 1998, the business activi-ties of the subsidiary Travek Travel Agency were sold.

In 1999, Fennoscandia Chartering Ltd. became a sub-sidiary of the Victor Ek Group. In 2002 Victor Ek acquired Champion Muutot and in 2003 the moving related opera-tions of John Nurminen Oy.

Today Victor Ek is a modern multifunctional transport company, which offers its customers the extensive and useful experience of a leading company in its field of busi-ness every day. n

www.victorek.fi



Euroports Finland joined the Euroports group in Oc-tober 2007, says Matti Esko, Managing Director of Euroports Finland. He says that the experiences have been positive.

“We are now part of a big European company and we can benefit from each other and the network of Euroports’ compa-nies. Rauma and Pietarsaari work separately in terms of opera-tions, but we have consolidated all administration, marketing and management into one.”

In the record year 2008 Rauma and Pietarsaari together han-dled over 7m tonnes of cargo. The downturn of late 2008-09 was strong, and cargo volumes decreased 20-30 percent. What are the realistic growth figures in the future?

“We assume that the positive trend which started in spring 2010 will continue. I believe that after 4-5 years the volume will

be back to the level of 7m tonnes.“The Port of Rauma had 5.6m tonnes of volume in 2010,

showing an increase of 11.1 percent compared to 2009. Growth in container traffic was even more, 15 percent,” says Esko.

“These figures were thanks to the recovery of Finnish indus-try in spring 2010. In 2011 container traffic has increased even more and the reason behind that is that the share of container traffic is in a period of continuous growth.”

The Port of Rauma has announced that Rauma aims to be the largest container port on the Finnish west coast. The role of Euroports and Rauma Stevedoring is a substantial factor in meeting this target.

More capacity

In Rauma, the port authority is planning to increase the terminal capacity by creating a new container area in the next couple of years.

“This naturally helps us too. There is also a need for more efficient handling equipment in the future. Rauma is currently operating with reachstackers in both yard and vessel operations, but in the future other techniques can also be installed,” says Matti Esko.

Euroports Finland currently manages two concession ports on the west coast of Finland. These ports, Rauma and Pietarsaari, com-prise the largest paper port operator and third largest container port operator in Fin-land respectively.

Operational Excellence by

Euroports

Text: Klaus SusiluotoImages: Euroports


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“We are continuously investing in new handling equipment. Last autumn we made a strategic investment in Pietarsaari with a new high capacity Mantsinen hydraulic crane. This enables us to handle even bigger vessels, faster and more flexibly.”

Both Pietarsaari and Rauma ports can handle various com-modities and are ready to handle different types of vessels.

“Rauma has even become the third biggest container port in Finland and the biggest on the west coast of Finland,” adds Matti Esko.

In both ports there is an active dialogue with the port au-thorities and both are active in their investments to develop port infrastructure. Matti Esko points out that Euroports Finland is not just a stevedoring company.

ManagingDirectorofEuroportsFinland,MattiEsko


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He says: “We have almost all logistics services un-der our umbrella. Terminal services in both export and import traffic, including container stuffing and destuff-ing. We also provide forwarding and door-to-door ser-vices for our customers with our partners and in both loca-tions we have an agency service for shipping companies. “We have normal warehouses in which some areas are heated, and some have IMDG classification to store hazardous goods. Then in Rauma we have silo-type warehouses for bulk goods.”

In Rauma exports are much bigger than imports. Is this a problem? In Matti Esko’s view, it is not.

“It gives us room to grow the import traffic. Currently we are focusing on having more import cargo in containers rather than handling empties.”

New Fairway to Pietarsaari

The Port of Pietarsaari has a project underway to deepen and improve the approach fairway. Instead of being restricted to a nine-metre fairway, ships with drafts up to 11 metres can call at Pietarsaari. And in 2009 the port lengthened the deep-water berth from 300 metres to 500 metres. This was the first step in the project, and the actual fairway is the second stage.

“This indirectly offers better opportunities to us too. After the deepening of the fairway which has already started, bigger vessels can enter the port. This offers our customers and us new possibilities,” says Esko.

The Port of Rauma has a master plan to enlarge and modern-ise, and it dates back to 2006. Do you think this plan, or part of


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it, could be realised in the near future? “I believe this will be a realistic choice. The capacity of the

port is nearly used up and based on the current trend in growth – especially in container traffic – more capacity is needed.”

All in all, Euroports continues to acquire a network of Euro-pean ports with strong exposure to growth and diversified pro-tection against downturn. The portfolio currently extends across multiple countries and locations in Europe, including Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Finland, Bulgaria and Italy.

“There are some synergy advantages of belonging to such a large ‘chain’. The main synergy comes from the network so that we can benefit from each other and especially use our own net-work in marketing our services in Europe. Also certain functions like procurement, safety etc provide tools to achieve cost savings and best practices.”

www.euroports.com www.raumastevedoring.fi

www.botniashipping.fi

The Euroports management team is based in Luxembourg and is primarily focussed on achieving efficiencies and synergies across the portfolio of assets.


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Vaasa and its surroundings comprise one of the most export-driven areas in Finland, but exports of heavy cargoes through the Port of Vaasa have

been rather limited. “After the infrastructure projects finishes, this will certainly change”, believes Seppelin.

Some time ago the port already acquired lifting capac-ity for heavy loads and containers when a 104-tonne mo-bile crane was bought. “This crane – Liebherr 400 – can handle almost all types of cargos. By using the spreader, containers of 20, 30 and 40 feet can be handled. The crane investment was made with the cooperation of Blomberg Stevedoring. We will have another almost similar mobile crane.”

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Klaus Susiluoto, Vaasa port

Vaasa port

The Port of Vaasa is capable of accurate, tailor-made cargo handling operations. “During the next a few years, the focus will be on heave transport and contain-er traffic. The port as well as road infra-structure is being upgraded,” Director of the port, Teijo Seppelin, says.

– Preparing for Increasing Exports



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more export traffic,” confirms Seppelin.The Port of Vaasa is owned by the

City of Vaasa, which has also larger logis-tics plans. With the neighbouring city of Mustasaari, Vaasa invests in developing a logistics centre in the east side of the Vaasa Airport.

TRAFFIC FLOWS

The Port of Vaasa is located in the middle of Finland’s long west coast. The area of the Port of Vaasa is around 62 hectares. Warehousing facilities are 36 000 m2. The total traffic of the Port of Vaasa last year was 1.4 million tons.

“Transportation connections from Vaasa to Sweden are good. The shortest distance to the Swedish side is only a little more than 50 nautical miles,” says Sep-pelin.

Vaasa does not have any direct liner traffic to ocean ports, but there is a short sea route from Rotterdam to Umeå twice a week. From Umeå unit goods can be loaded in standard containers or cas-settes to be brought to Vaasa. From Umeå to Vasa there is an almost daily connec-tion and the trip lasts only 4 to 5 hours (See the related story on RG Line).

Seppelin also tells that there will be a totally renewed bridge, the “Vaski-luoto bridge”, to the harbour area. This helps with heavy cargoes. The bridge is specially designed so that special cargoes up to 600 tons can be carried to or from the port. This enables delivering of large project machinery and components from Vaasa, which has lots of heavy industry, for example, electro-technical and wind mill expertise.

The old bridge was built in the 1950s. Construction of the completely renewed bridge will be carried out in the later part of 2011 and the first part of 2012.

“Part of quays is also being renovated in the near future. There is a plan done by Engineering Agency Pitkälä.”

Furthermore, the port field will be en-larged. The field extension is 17 000 m2 and the new part can take even the heavi-est cargoes.

“The longer-term building plan will include Vaasa’s southern bypass, the “harbour highway”, which will direct traf-fic away from the city centre, but there hasn’t been any decision on the schedule yet.”

“At the moment quite many industrial companies in the Vaasa region use other ports than ours, but we will certainly gain

There are five quays and three more in connection of the passenger terminal. Imports of coal and oil are important, so both have their own quays.”

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“Some shipping companies also con-sider the direct liner traffic from Vaasa, but the Umeå connection already works quite well, forming 11 percent of our traf-fic,” says Teijo Seppelin.

Vaasa is a strong import port for bulk. Coal and different oil products are im-portant items. Almost two thirds of traf-fic consists of these products in tons. In 2010 coal 36 percent and oil products 29 percent.

“Also grains and animal feeds are important; together they make up 13 percent. Vaasa is also a hub for Swedish paper manufacturer SCA. This makes

4 percent of the traffic, but is on the in-crease.”

“There are five quays and three more in connection of the passenger terminal. Imports of coal and oil are important, so both have their own quays.”

The port of Vaasa has good rail con-nections, which has been used, for ex-ample, to carry agricultural ma-chines from Sweden to Russia.

Like any other modern ports, Vaasa offers m a i n l y

basic services, while operators handle most of cargo handling.

“We can provide lifting services, and we take care of moorings, fresh water and electricity, ground lease and waste dis-posal services. However, what we and our partners can offer are special tailor-made solutions to customers,” says Seppelin. n

Directoroftheport,TeijoSeppelin

COMPANIES IN THE PORT AREA

Stevedoring and warehousing services are offered by Blomberg Stevedoring Oy, which is part of Backman-Trummer. There are also forwarding services by Backman-Trummer Oy and Oy Beweship Group Ab. Also Freia, Kühne & Nagel, Wasa Logistics and Aha Logistics have representations or own agencies. Tug operations are handled by Vaasan Hinaus Oy.

Backman-Trummer Group is part of KWH and a major port operator in ten dif-ferent ports on the west coast of Finland, from Kalajoki in the north to Hanko in the south. The total warehouse area available is 175 000 m2. n

www.vaasa.fi/port

RG Line Connecting Sweden and Finland

Mostly we carry trailers and trucks, but during holidays, for example, in midsummer or skiing holidays, passenger cars dominate.”

ManagingDirectorofRGLine,Mr.RekoMärsylä

RG Line operates one of the most northern regular ferry routes in the world. For many people, this route from Finland’s Vaasa to Swe-den’s Umeå is the best connection, especially if they carry cargos between central and northern parts of Finland, Sweden or Norway.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Klaus Susiluoto, RG Line


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Managing Director of RG Line, Mr. Reko Märsylä, has worked for RG Line for ten years, and in the

ferry business for almost twenty years. During this time he has seen the neces-sity of Vaasa–Umeå route.

“There is not any other means to car-ry vehicles in such a cost-effective way. Mostly we carry trailers and trucks, but during holidays, for example, in midsum-mer or skiing holidays, passenger cars dominate.”

“Compared to the year 2010, this year 2011 has been much better in terms of freight. From time to time, we have 80 to 90 percent of our lane capacity in use,” says Märsylä.

RG Line freight services are used mainly by Finnish and Swedish compa-nies. Typical products are car and ma-chine parts and chemicals, to some ex-tent also consumer goods. A typical cargo is also kraft paper, which is produced in Sweden.

“The ports of Holmsund near Umeå and Vaasa can handle the ro-ro of RG Line pretty well. There are three ro-ro quays in the Port of Vaasa. Ro-ro 1 is 154 meters with a draught of 6.8 meters, ro-ro 2 is 145 meters with a draught of 5.7 me-ters and ro-ro 3 is 160 meters long with

a draught of 6.4 meters. The facilities on the Swedish side are also good.”

There is also a Nordic Logistics Cen-tre in Umeå, which was finished last year. Vaasa is planning its own centre close to the airport.

Passenger traffic

Accroding to Märsylä, the year 2011 looks quite good from the point of view of freight. In passenger traffic there has been a slow decline over the years, but we have realistic growth plans.”

In 2010 RG Line had some 58 000 passengers. Of these 41 000 were Finns, 11 000 Swedes, 2000 Norwegians and 1000 Russians. The group “others” was 3000.

“The target for 2011 is several thou-sands above this, 61 500. We have had new customers, for example, travellers with caravans, and caravan vehicles have found our services.”

It takes 4 to 5 hours to sail from Vaasa to Umeå’s Holmsund, with the speed of 13–16 knots. RG Lines’s ferry M/S RG I can take 300 passengers and it has 840 lane meters. The ferry has restaurant seats for 124 persons. The length of M/S RG I is 140 meters and width 20.5 me-ters. Car deck height is 6 meters.


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Blue road experiences

RG Line has invested much on frequent travellers:

“We have built the programme to re-ward customers who use our services on a regular basis. Therefore we also want to make sure that customers can use the benefits as soon as possible. We hope we have succeeded in creating an easy and user-friendly system, so customers can benefit and enjoy,” says Märsylä.

RG Line also provides services for bigger groups. Since RG Line is using the route Vaasa–Umeå–Vaasa each day during the peak season, it is easy to plan group travels, no matter what the final destination is.

“Summer naturally is our high season, but also students’ winter holidays, called skiing holidays in Scandinavia, and East-er time are good from our point of view,” says Reko Märsylä.

Vaasa–Umeå is a good route to reach Sweden’s largest skiing center Åre. Also central Norway is in a reasonable dis-tance. Norwegian towns Mo-i-rana and Trondheim are destinations for cargos as

well as tourists. Some cargos even go to Oslo region.

The main road in Sweden and Norway is called Blå Vägen (Blue Road), and in fact this scenic route continues in Finland as well. Officially Blue Road is the road E 12 and it goes from Helsinki to Mo-i-Rana in Norway (910 km). In Sweden the road follows the Ume River, which gives the name for “Blå Vägen”.

Background of RG Line

The company was originally known as Oy Vaasa–Umeå Ab, but later the name was changed to Vaasanlaivat / Vasabåtarna (in Finnish / Swedish). Vaasanlaivat was bought by Sally Line, part of the Silja Line consortium, in 1982. The title was later changed to Wasa Line, and finally the route was integrated into the main Silja Line fleet until its closure in 2001.

Following Silja Line’s withdrawal from the Vaasa–Umeå route, services have been operated by RG Line using the Casi-no Express (ex-Fennia), which has served on this route since 1986. n

www.rgline.com

RG Line also provides services for bigger groups. Since RG Line is using the route Vaasa-Umeå-Vaasa each day during the peak season, it is easy to plan group travels, no matter what the final destination is."

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PortdirectorKristianHällis


Strong DEVELOPMENT Through investments

In the 2010s, the Port of Pietarsaari is having the largest investment program in its history. The Director of the port Kristian Hällis believes that Pietarsaari has much unused potential.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Klaus Susiluoto, Port of Pietarsaari

The Port of Pietarsaari is known for its goods traffic of wood-related prod-ucts like timber, pulp, paper and en-ergy wood.

“In cooperation with operators, we aim at in-creasing the handling of more of these prodcuts, at the same time offering better opportunities to receive and send other goods like chemicals and liquids,” tells Kristian Hällis.

Also containers are handled to some extent. The Port of Pietarsaari is working actively to offer better services to its customers.

“We continuously improve possibilities to have larger transport volumes. We expect 10 to 15 percent increase in cargo volumes in the com-ing years. There was a drastic downturn in 2009, but from last year we could increase the amount of traffic again, to almost two million tons.”

The Port of Pietar-saari is known for its goods traffic of wood-related products like timber, pulp, paper and energy wood.


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Power and paper

Much traffic comes thanks to UPM’s Pi-etarsaari pulp mill, which is one of Eu-rope’s largest and most modern plants – the new recovery line was taken into use in 2004.

On the same plot operates also the kraft paper factory. The power plant Al-holmens Kraft operates just next to the port area. “Being the largest bio-fuelled power plant in the world, it uses a vast amount of bio-based raw materials like forest chips, which are brought to the plant from Finland and abroad. The pow-er plant burns 1 000 cubic metres of fuel per hour in full effect.”

“Both of these plants naturally gener-ate much cargo traffic. Forest chips are imported to be used in the pulp mill too. Wood is brought, for example, from the Baltic countries, but South American eu-calyptus chips are also imported to some extent. It is not only cheaper. Euca is also needed for processing some special qual-ities of pulp. From time to time, wood chips have been imported from Canada,” says Hällis.

International and domestic traffic

In most cases transport tonnage is used efficiently. Import and export products are carried on the same vessels.

“The proportion of imports has in-

creased: up to 60 percent of the total traffic of the port is imports. However, exports are also very important for the Port of Pietarsaari, for example, in timber exportation,” says Hällis.

There is liner traffic to Emden, Ger-many, which is the main port of call. Also connections to Riga, Latvia are good. Every year more than 360 ships call at Pi-etarsaari port.

“We also have domestic traffic. For ex-ample, cement from Finnsementti factory in Parainen, near Turku, is distributed to Western and Central Finland through Pi-etarsaari port.

“Almost all port operations of Pietar-saari are handled by Oy Botnia Shipping Ab. Also project cargo like machine and machine parts can be transported via Pi-etarsaari. Small-scale ro-ro is an option, but we do not have regular ro-ro traffic,” says Kristian Hällis.

The role of timber

Finnish timber has been exported through Pietarsaari to North Africa and the Middle East. Because of political up-heaval, this business is suffering a little bit. But timber is needed in the Middle East and Africa anyway.

“It is also expected that Japan will need a large amount of wood in the re-construction process in the coming years. I hope Finland will get a fair share of it.

This would also benefit Finnish ports,” re-minds Hällis.

“When it comes to timber, practically all ports on the Gulf of Bothnia in west-ern Finland are our competitors. But we have done pretty well. There is a saying that one Finnish tree in ten goes abroad via Pietarsaari, as timber or processed wood products.”

Investing in infra

In the 2010s, the Port of Pietarsaari is having the largest investment program in its history.

We continuously improve possibili-ties to have larger transport volumes. We expect 10 to 15 percent increase in cargo volumes in the coming years. There was a drastic downturn in 2009, but from last year we could increase the amount of traffic again, to almost two million tons.”


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The Port of Pietarsaari has six quays with the total length of 1 030 meters. Laukko quay is the newest and deepest. The quay is located on the farthest north of the port area. Laukko is 500 meters long and has a draft of 9 meters. The draft of Buskö quay is 7.4 meters and the length 160 meters. The base of the quay is equipped with stern port ramp. South quay is 265 meters long with a draft of 7.4 meters. South quay is the oldest quay.

“For practical reasons cargo handling concentrates mainly on Laukko and Buskö quays. Three of these quays are de-signed for special purposes whose utilisa-

tion other than planned is debatable – ce-ment and passenger quay – or otherwise complicates other port operations.”

“Already in 2009 we enlarged the deep berth from 300 to 500 meters. This was the first step in the project. The second step is to deepen the fairway. Instead of the 9-meter fairway, ships up to 11-meter draft can call Pietarsaari. Deepening of the fairway will start during the summer of 2011.”

The new 11-meter fairway is 12 kilo-metres long. The harbour basin will be deepened. “It is a vast project for a rather small port like Pietarsaari. The project

will cost close to 20 million euros.” “Also port fields are being enlarged.

This allows more operations with con-tainers and more space for short- and long-term storing of goods.”

“We have also strongly invested in improving our communication facilities. We recently opened up WLAN network, which covers an area from the north of Laukko quay to the ramp of the Buskö quay, and slightly extended to the north-ern part of the South quay. The Port of Pietarsaari offers this service totally free and no login or password is required,” says Hällis. n

www.portofpietarsaari.fi

LIFE PROJECT

The EU project for using ashes as the landfill will take place in the next five years, together with the Ports of Kemi and Hanko, Finnish Ministry of Envi-ronment and Finnish Ports Association. The project is called LIFE + Environment Policy and Govern-ance. Pietarsari is a coordinator of this project. The aim of the project is to plan how to take use of wastes generated by manufacturing and energy industries. Wastes are mainly ashes. The project studies if this waste can be used in constructing some parts of the port.


“K” Line Spirit – the uncompromising customer service

“K” Line (Finland) Oy focuses on the transport industry in its sales and marketing, and transport operations from point of origin to the destination. According to Stjernberg, the managing director of “K” Line (Finland) Oy, the most important thing for the company is that all customers’ needs are being met and that everything possible is done to make this happen. “The compa-ny’s employees have internalized this mindset and it crystallizes in words of “K” Line Spirit. We make sure that the cargo gets to

“K” Line (Finland) Oy is an international ship-ping and logistics company and a subsidiary of Japan’s “K” Line Group, which is one of the five largest shipping groups in the world. “K” Line (Finland) Oy is known for its high quality customer service, transport safety and accu-rate operations. This year “K” Line Ltd, Tokyo, has again received its ISO 14001 certificate, which is the international standard for envi-ronment friendliness.

(Finland) Ltd“K” Line - Accurate TransportationText: Susanna Rinkineva Photos: Anders Korhonen, "K" Line


“K” Line Finland fo-cuses mainly on container transportation. Con-tainers are transported abroad with major Finn-ish export products."


the customer on time and that concerns all commitments. We follow the transport every step of the way.”

For customers there is a great tracking service on “K” Line’s website. It gives information about the sailing schedules and the locations and destinations of the cargo. On the website custom-ers can also make a booking request for their cargo, request a rate quotation or view container specifications.

Containers and cars

“K” Line Finland focuses mainly on container transportation. Containers are transported abroad with major Finnish export products. Various sectors are strongly represented. From around the world “K” Line Finland imports consumer goods like elec-tronics and cars on a daily basis.

Containers have usually a capacity of 6 m and 12 m in length. One ocean vessel can take, depending on its size, 5,000–15,000 20-foot containers. Container transports to/from continental ports are carried out with small feeder vessels. These ships oper-ate to other northern European countries, collecting each of the containers as they progress. Ships discharge goods in large ports such as Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium) and Hamburg (Germany) from where they then continue on bigger “K” Line vessels to different corners of the Earth: the Far East, North America and Australia etc.

“K” Line was the first shipping company to specialize in car transportation. Cars began to be moved back in 1968. Vessels can carry several thousand vehicles. “K” Line Finland carries cars, for example, from Germany. The cars are transported to Finland’s southernmost town, Hanko. The cars are for the do-


mestic market as well as for the Russian market in the east.Recently, the car carrier has experienced major changes.

Automotive parts are manufactured in different parts of the world, and this presents a challenge for transport. However, “K” Line has adapted well. “K” Line’s strengths are the sensitivity to change and ability to work flexibly in new situations.

“K” Line Finland offers domestic land transport. Transit transport is, on the other hand, handled by subcontractors.

Safety and environment friendliness

“K” Line Finland is committed to three basic values in customer service. Stjernberg names “K” Line’s negotiating culture as one of the company’s main values besides positive thinking. “We al-ways try to find a suitable solution and method of operation in every situation,” he says.

The aim is to be there for the customer and always put the needs of the customer first in every situation. “Customers can count on the fact that “K” Line Finland’s schedules are accurate. Finnish office workers make sure that vessels, port operators and the client companies have the latest information. Any change will be notified to them immediately,” says Stjernberg.

Another of “K” Line’s core values is safety. “K” Line’s highly educated staff is trained in the company’s own “K” Line Mari-time Academy. Professional expertise is constantly updated to maintain the safety of navigation, and efficient and careful han-dling of cargo.


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“K” Line Finland’s goal is to provide customers with a high quality and safe transportation service. Ongoing and accurate cargo amendments will ensure that all types of injuries can be pre-vented. “K” Line Finland is constantly growing to provide better quality transport. This means that careful attention is paid to the handling of cargo as well as the documentation,” says Stjernberg.

The third main value of the company is environment friendli-ness. “K” Line Japan received ISO 14001 certification in 2002. It is internationally recognized. The right to keep that certificate is evalued every three years. “K” Line has successfully passed the test this year – 2011 – and the certificate was renewed. “K” Line has among the national and regional environmental regulations also committed to develop vessels which consume less energy and emit less CO2, NOx and SOx. “K” Line’s objective is to reduce over-

all consumption of energy, water and paper waste, and minimize litter.

One of the key values of the company is helping people. “K” Line Finland participates in this helping people and improving quality of life by bringing in vital raw materials and commodities from different parts of the world.

Competitiveness from independence and autonomy

The shipping industry is highly competitive. There are a lot of large companies. Stjernberg says that “K” Line Finland’s competi-tive advantage is high quality customer service. Also, the fact that the company has an international group on its side is a great sup-


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port when the world economy fluctuates at times of economic uncertainty. “K” Line’s independence and autonomy gives a guar-antee of a stable operation. The “K” Line Group’s operations are divided into many different sectors. Diversification helps to create competitiveness and resilience if the global economic situation changes.

Japanese cultural values such as accuracy and integrity are well suited to Finnish values. Stjernberg says: ““K” Line Finland’s basic principles are that things are done as promised. The com-pany takes good care of the transport from the beginning until the end. In addition, we are vigilant that every trade is documented, including the volume of the corresponding entries. This is very important for “K” Line. “K” Line Finland has received positive feedback for its clarity and reliability.

Employees thrive on “K” Line

Open communication in all matters is important for “K” Line’s open-spiritedness. Matters are discussed. International meetings are held regularly around the world where representatives of vari-ous countries come together. Every week there are telephone or video conferences.

“There is a good atmosphere in “K” Line Finland”, says Stjern-berg. “We have embraced the term “K” Line Family. We focus on the fact that everyone thrives at “K” Line. It is also good to know that employees have a clear understanding of their jobs and the company’s plans. That is why the staff turnover rate is remarkably low.” n

www.kline.fi

ChiefExecutiveOlliKaljala

Bureau Veritas is a certification and inspec-tion company, whose main tasks in the mari-time sector are accident prevention and risk management enhancement. Bureau Veritas carries out ship classification, certification and auditing. Bureau Veritas, as part of ship clas-sification, is involved also in the inspection of ships during their construction period. In Fin-land, Bureau Veritas classed vessels include, e.g., latest Tallink passenger ships – the Baltic Princess and Baltic Queen.

keeps ships on safe watersBureau Veritas

Text: Susanna RinkinevaPhotos: Anders Korhonen, Bureau Veritas

Olli Kaljala, the chief executive of Finland, states that the strength of the company is that it is locally fo-cused and close to the customers – ship owners and shipyards. Bu-

reau Veritas has 15 plan approval offices around the world. One of these offices is in Turku, where passenger ships drawings are also

inspected and approved. Bureau Veritas provides inspection and survey

services to, in addi-tion to the ship-

ping industry, construction and real es-tate compa-nies, aerospace companies, electricity and energy companies, and government and public sector entities.

Bureau Veritas also provides consult-

ing services to its customers. Consulting can be ordered for the recommendations, benchmarking, risk management, change management, interpretation of the provisions and requirements.

Bureau Veritas is an over 180-year-old international company. Its headquarters are located in France with branches in more than 140 countries. In Finland, the company ran aground in 1984 al-though the agency has been in the country already in the nine-teenth century, when wooden sailing ships were built by Bureau Veritas category. The company was originally established for the insurance companies who needed guarantee of the safety of the ships.

Classification as a main mission

Bureau Veritas is the world biggest certification and inspection company, and in the marine industry it is among the six largest classification companies. The company’s classification includes 12–13 percent of the world’s commercial fleet. In Finland and the Baltic States, around 80 ships are classed by Bureau Veritas.

Bureau Veritas admits classifi-cations for ship navigation safety, environmental friendliness, qual-ity, services and social responsibil-ity in relationship. Classification is always based on internation-ally established laws and rules on safety and technical standards in shipping.

There are two different service areas for the shipping industry. The first concerns the classifica-tion of ships and the second the certification of management sys-

tems. Different types of ships have their own classifications. “Bureau Veritas stays by the classified ships throughout their

life cycle from designing to recycling them”, says Kaljala.Ships are constantly evolving. New environmental standards

are developed, and greener technology is being developed and taken into use in shipping. Kaljala tells that the changes in the shipping industry reflect also Bureau Veritas’s opera-tions. “We follow the development and develop our clas-sifications rules accordingly. The biggest goal is to establish and ensure the safety of people and nature.”

Accredited certificate authorityBureau Veritas audits a shipping company’s standards

and procedures, and then grants the certificates based on services, products or management systems. Certificates can be obtained by, for example, ships, shipping companies and shipyards. The certificate will be tested and inspected peri-odically.

“Especially for the marine sector, Bureau Veritas grants the ISM certificate, which is the standard for the safety management system of ships, and the ISPS certificate, which means the standard for the security of ships and port facilities. In addition, Bureau Veritas grants also certificates such as ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 27001 and ISO 9000. Because of the large number of different standards it is a challenge to develop effective combined management systems in shipping. This is the target also for us as an audit-ing company,” says Kaljala.

Certificates concern safe working conditions, customer services, maritime safety, quality and environmental friend-liness. Bureau Veritas has been involved in developing the OHSAS 18001 certification, which concerns health and safety policy.

Regular surveys

As classified by Bureau Veritas, a ship will be inspected periodically once a year. Every five years a comprehensive special survey is made, and if necessary, e.g., after dam-age to the ship, technical inspections and audits are done more often. In surveys the ship’s hull, machinery and safety equipment are under inspection.

Local operation means that in Finland, Finnish ships as well as visiting ships from other countries are surveyed by local Finnish surveyors. “As a classification society our main task is to inspect ships according to our own rules, but we also do statutory surveys on behalf of a ship’s flag state. How wide the range of statutory surveys we carry out, depends on the authority of the flag country of the vessel,” says Kaljala.

The inspections are done mainly in port or shipyard. Kaljala states, however, that there are exceptions. “For ex-ample, ships are occasionally checked during the voyage due to the tight schedule of the ship. As ships operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the time in port might be lim-ited, and for us it is important that we can carry out all nec-essary surveys without any unnecessary delay for the ship.”

Also involved in the research

Bureau Veritas activities are not limited to the classifica-tions, certifications and auditing. It is also involved in re-

search. France headquarters are, e.g., focused on examining ships’ noise and vibration, and aim to reduce these disad-vantages.

“In environmental issues they focus on new technolo-gies such as using LNG-fuel, catalytic converters and pod-propulsion systems. Especially for passenger ships and ice going vessels, such propulsion systems are welcomed,” Kaljala tells. This development work is often done together with customers in their development projects.

Education in Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is the world’s leading educational organiza-tion in the field. Its courses last from a few days to a couple of weeks, and in the marine industry they aim at shipyards, shipping companies and ship management companies. The courses focus on technology, safety and security. Compa-nies of all sizes can participate, and training can also be arranged in the company’s own premises. Also courses for special situations can be tailored. One important way of learning is that during the courses colleagues can openly exchange opinions and share their experiences. Courses are ISO 9001 certified.

Main values, mission and vision

Kaljala points out that one of Bureau Veritas’s main values is independence. “As a third party we operate objectively,

giving customers reliable services.” The company also appre-ciates the transparency of communication and competence. Certification and inspection base on QHSE, the abbreviation of quality, health, safety and environment. Another impor-tant value is the respect for all individuals, ethics, integrity and accountability. Bureau Veritas is a member of IFIA, whose ethical guidelines it follows.

Bureau Veritas’s mission is to provide economic benefit for its customers, give licenses to customers’ business and minimize all kinds of risks. Bureau Veritas’s vision is to be the leading organization in the field and a major player in each of its market segments and the key geographical markets.

Conservation of nature

Bureau Veritas is involved in supporting the conservation of nature. It supports, for example, climate change expedition, who investigates the activities in Greenland. The expedition tries to find the reasons for the planet’s warming and the ef-fects on the vegetation and animals.

The company has participated in testing the UNESCO world’s heritage, the rock arch Dwejran. The rock arch is lo-cated on the island of Gozo in Malta. The working group has assessed the rock arch over the erosion and developed on that basis the security method.

Bureau Veritas is on exhibition in the Munich Transport Logistics Exhibition Fair during 12 – 15.5.2011. n

www.bureauveritas.fi

Scan Global Logistics - Lean Organization Close to the Customer

Scan Global Logistics is an organization that puts customer needs and its work-force’s well-being above all else. It also ap-pears that way at a brand new, comfort-able SGL branch office in Vantaa, Finland. “A good atmosphere is the main thing in our offices. A creative atmosphere creates the right kind of work culture and hence the joy of work and earning a living,” says Kari Cairenius, CEO of the Finland branch.

Text: Susanna RinkinevaPhotos: Anders Korhonen

Growing organization

Scan Global Logistics is headquartered in Copenhagen, Den-mark, and it has 74 own offices in 18 countries, including Fin-land. SGL’s global transportation network has offices in more than 200 countries. SGL is one of the biggest logistics organiza-tions in the Nordic region and in Europe. “Our organization’s strategy is to strengthen the existing market areas and continue to grow and expand the organization internationally. We focus in particular on the USA’s growing market area. At the moment we have a campaign running for the US and Nordic cooperation. SGL is taking off. We have received plenty of positive feedback from our customers,” says Cairenius.

SGL’s main market is in Asia and North America. According to Cairenius, especially China, south-east Asia, India, as well as Russia are the key transport targets at the moment. Finland´s

main export products comes from the forest, pulp, timber, metal and technol-ogy industries. In 2009, SGL Finland opened a new office in the port of Kotka in addition to its Vantaa office. The Kotka office was set up to support growing mar-itime transport.

It all started in 1988 when Danish lo-gistics company ScanAm Transport was founded. The main transportation work for this family-owned company was be-tween Europe and the USA. Gradually, the company expanded into the Far East region, where new offices were built under the name Scan Global Logistics. Along with the enlargement, ScanAm Transport established an office in Fin-land in 1991. In 2007, ScanAm Trans-port merged with a large Danish logistics company called Mahe Freight, which was set up in 1975. They took the common name, Scan Global Logistics, into use.

Tailor-made services

Scan Global Logistics Finland Ltd has an operational role covering the entire logis-tics chain, storage, transport and freight forwarding. Also, special transport jobs are handled. For example, transport of oversized and hazardous cargoes can be taken care of. The company also does project transport, which requires a tight schedule and other special arrangements.

Whether special carriage or not, the customer’s goods are always delivered in just the kind of logistics service package that is asked for. Cargo ships take on all kinds and sizes of cargoes. Air transport is offered to anywhere in the world. Cus-tomers have a wide range of options for transporting their cargo.

To name a few, SGL Economy is for those customers who need to prioritize economy over speed. SGL Basic is for those who need quick and reliable trans-port for their cargo, while SGL Priority is for cargo which requires extra security, speed or flexibility. As a major transport company, SGL Finland Ltd guarantees se-

SGL is one of the biggest logistics organizations in the Nordic region and in Europe."

KariCairenius,CEOoftheFinlandbranch


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curity and quick transportation to every destination in the world.

SGL Finland is a very customer-orien-tated company, and within the customer’s reach whenever service is needed. Deci-sion-making is fast in every situation, so the customer doesn’t have to wait for the answer to his question. The company has also a unique IT system for customers. Through that the customer receives in-formation or documentation needed, and which concerns the handling or transpor-tation of cargo.

Creative work environment

Cairenius points out that SGL Finland is a customer-oriented and a modern compa-ny. “We are a lean company in which the two Danish chief executives from Den-mark also serve customers face to face. These chiefs together own 30 percent of the whole organization. If necessary, they will fly to Finland to meet with customers overnight. SGL Finland’s benefits are its flexibility and quick response to custom-er needs. We listen and keep a keen ear to what the customer has to say.”

SGL Finland’s main asset is its peo-ple. The company offers employees an interesting and a challenging job, where they won’t get bored. “Employees work in different teams. From time to time we change the team members around. That way everyone can circulate in the com-pany’s various positions. The air freight

The company has also a unique IT system for customers. Through that the customer receives information or documentation needed, and which concerns the handling or transportation of cargo."

Thebellisrungeverytimesomeonedoesanewdeal.

NickBurton


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department member can, for example, move to the ocean freight department and vice versa. These kinds of experi-ences give employees valuable knowledge and the employee receives a new flow of work,” says Cairenius. In SGL Finland, working conditions are good. For exam-ple, employees are offered a stable career path. When wanted, it is possible to move

to work in another SGL office abroad.SGL Finland arranges a meeting every

week for its management team and twice a month a ‘Hill Street’ meeting for the whole staff. “It is very important for the company that all workers can express their opinions and say everything they have to say. Information is updated, and things remain clear. The company invests in creativity and innovation. Among workers, the saying ‘Have some fun while doing things’ is commonly used,” states Cairenius.

Nordic values

SGL Finland is a strong Scandinavian company. Nordic values such as reliability, responsibility and flexibility are the main principles of operation. Things are done on time as agreed. One of the company’s sayings is ‘a promise is a promise’. “Con-fidential relationships with the customer company is liberating for both, for us and for the customer. In that way we can natu-rally and creatively develop new customer

service solutions that will benefit the cus-tomer,” says Cairenius. Abroad these val-ues are maintained by SGL Scandinavian workers.

SGL Finland has clear and concrete objectives for nature conservation. “An-nually we try to save 10 percent of our en-ergy consumption and five percent of our paper consumption. Our website is free from carbon dioxide. We focus on nature conservation in small everyday actions. For example, we utilize natural light and switch off electronic devices when they are not needed,” says Cairenius.

Aid and relief work

SGL is actively involved in assisting af-fected countries and responding to the plight of the people. SGL makes aid and relief work with relief organizations. Cur-rently SGL is engaged in helping people in Libya and in Japan. During Kabul’s ri-ots SGL was also on hand, and its plane was the first to land in Kabul. n

www.scangl.com

There is a big need for rail transportations to and from Russia and CIS countries. Trucks just cannot handle all the traffic. With this in mind, Freight One Scandinavia Ltd. (FOS) takes the freight services to Russia and CIS region in earnest and offers flexible rail logistics to Finnish and other customers.

DeputyManagingDirectorKonstantinNau-movandManagingDirectorofFreightOneScandinaviaLtd.,Ms.MariaKuokkanen

Comprehensive transportations by Freight One

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Sini Pennanen, Freight One Scandinavia

Freight One Scandinavia Ltd. is a co-owned enterprise of Finnish railways VR Group and Russia’s largest rail opera-tor, JSC Freight One, i.e., OAO “PGK”, which has more than 200 000 wagons. (To compare with, Finnish railways VR has

“only” about 10 000.)The company was registered in 2009, and business operations

started actually in April, 2010. In a little more than one year, Freight One Scandinavia has gained quite good market share.

“Through our owners, our clients attain superior services for the demanding international rail transport sector,” says Managing Di-rector of Freight One Scandinavia, Ms. Maria Kuokkanen.

“We provide comprehensive export, import and transit trans-portation, with both wagon-load consignments and – in the future - complete train consignments. Traffic has been mainly exports from Finland, mostly paper, construction materials and metals.”

Kuokkanen also says that Russian railway system is much more cost-effective than generally known. “Freight One Scandinavia is but one example of new flexible ways of handling rail logistics to and from Russia.”

“Earlier, when a Finnish customer wanted to send cargos to Rus-sia and CIS countries, a request was made to Finnish railways, VR, who ordered wagons from Russian railways and distributed them to the customers,” says Kuokkanen. “Today, this channel does not exist


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any more. A customer makes a request to private wagon owners or to us. We sign a contract with the customer. The agreement is done in Finnish or English, if the customer wants so. It covers the whole delivery chain from the beginning in Finland, or, for example, in Sweden till the end – in Russia, CIS-countries or Mongolia, as Mongolia also has the same railway track gauge 1 520 mm as in Fin-land and Russia.”

“We give services in Finnish language in Finland, in Russian in Russia, but English is naturally used as well. All our employees can speak Finnish, English and Russian.” Freight One Scandinavia has eight employees. More are being re-cruited.

Right wagons and optimal routes

Freight One Scandinavia thus takes care of the ordering of the wagons. Kuok-kanen says that Freight One Scandinavia can offer a wide range of wagons (see the separate box). “We do not have VOFA container wagons, but otherwise almost any type of Russia-classified wagon is an option.”

“Getting the right wagon to a right place in a given time is what this is all about. That is, the key issue is to get the equipment when it is needed. From time to time, it has been difficult to get the right type of wagon for customers’ deliv-eries, but we managed with it. Essentially

we minimize the use of empty wagons.”“All wagons coming to Finland are

checked in St. Petersburg by representa-tives of OAO “PGK” before we send them to our customers. The quality of wagons today is much better than some years ago. Wagons with any faults are simply not sent to a customer. The large wagon owner is our shareholder, which gives us strong support,” says Maria Kuokkanen.

The company also plans optimal routes along with the return transpor-tation and acquires from the partners additional forwarding, terminal and car transportation services.

“We keep our clients informed with up-to-date progress of the transporta-tions – every day by e-mails.”

86

“The fees for using of wagons are quite reasonable, considering that the renewal of equipment has to be done at the same time.”

On top of this there is a transporta-tion tariff for Russian railway authority. “It is true that the tariff policy of Russia is a bit too much regulated, with the Rus-sian state setting the tariffs. With Rus-sia’s WTO membership the situation will probably turn better.”

Wide network

Deputy Managing Director Konstantin Naumov tells that PGK has 14 regional offices in Russia and a daughter company in Ukraine.

We provide comprehensive export, import and transit transportation, with both wagon-load consignments and – in the future - complete train consignments. Traffic has been mainly exports from Finland, mostly paper, construction materials and metals.”


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“Wide network means that it is eas-ier to find the following loading station quickly.”

Freight One Scandinavia also has a small wagon park in the Finnish city of Kouvola. “This functions as a kind of a small buffer, if our Finnish customer has a smaller unexpected delivery.

Naumov emphasises that it is not only about the traffic between Finland and Russia. “There will be freight also from western Europe and Scandinavia. There is a sea and sea-rail connection from Sweden to Finland. We’ll do transload-ing when needed. This can be done on the Finnish-Swedish border in Tornio-Haaparanta or in the Port of Turku.”

Wagon types

Gondola car or VOK is used for carrying loose bulk materials – ore, coal, metal industry products, wood, and other ma-terials that do not need to be protected against weather.

When the cargo is transported on flat wagons (a VOK or VO-wagon), informa-tion is required about the dimensions of the goods. If the goods in question are oversized and/or transported on flat wagons, this is considered to be a spe-cial transportation, whereupon loading drawings and special transportation per-mits are required from the railway.

Boxcar (VGK) is a type of freight car

that is enclosed on all sides with a thin steel plate. Covered wagons are used for transportation of products that require a cover from weather and mechanical damage. Covered wagons are available on three categories: 122 m3, 138 m3 and 158 m3. Sizes and capacities can vary ac-cording to the car type.

The gross weight of the goods in the wagon – an accuracy of within five tons is sufficient. If the weights of the trans-ported wagons vary, the freights can be calculated over several weight categories, such as 35 ton/wagon, 40 ton/wagon.

Tank car (Vgobo) is used for transpor-tation of oil products, liquid chemicals, liquefied petroleum gas, water and other

88

liquids. The capacities and volumes vary according to the purpose and car model.

A hopper (VTDA) is a silo type of car, which is used for carrying bulk com-modities such as coal, ore, cement, grain and gravel. The load is discharged with gravitation from vents underneath the wagon. The capacities and volumes of hopper cars vary according to the freight purpose and car model.

Flatcar is used for carrying goods with long or large surface area, such as piece goods, equipment and machines that tolerate different weather condi-tions. n

www.freight1.fi

There will be freight also from western Europe and Scandinavia. There is a sea and sea-rail connection from Sweden to Finland. We’ll do transloading when needed. This can be done on the Finnish-Swedish border in Tornio-Haaparanta or in the Port of Turku.”

Kotka - Hamina - Kouvolatransit cargo route

Kotka - Hamina - Kouvolatransit cargo route



Kotka-Superb Setting of Maritime Culture

Kotka Sea Festival is Finland’s largest maritime festival, and is organized in an authentic port area around the Vellamo Mari-time Centre and other seaside areas of the City of Kotka.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Jaana Parkkali, Ilja Belik, Jari Pitkäkangas

The festival has been organ-ized since 1962. Today it draws more than 200,000 participants a year.

Executive Director of Kotka Culture Centre, Laura Päiviö, says that the basic concept has remained more or less the same, and that is to make Kotka known as an interesting sea city and tourist des-tination.

“Over the years facilities have im-proved and been extended. For example, since 2008 the main festival area has been centred around the Maritime Centre Vel-lamo, which is a real architectural pearl. The shape of the building resembles a big wave.”

Vellamo houses two museums, the Maritime Museum of Finland and Mu-seum of Kymenlaakso.

The Maritime Centre Vellamo thus acts as a natural centre for the Kotka Sea Festival, also known casually as “Meripäivät” (Sea Days) in Finnish.

“However, there are several other stag-es and premises where the festival takes place. You can choose jazz in the famous sailors’ inn, Kairo, or take a boat trip to Kotka’s famous archipelago, or listen to Finnish evergreens,” says Päiviö.

All in all, the festival offers a superb

setting of maritime culture, visiting ves-sels, a concert programme from rock to classical music, a sea song competition, exhibitions, street theatre and much more. For the children there is a special Children’s Sea Festival.

“Year by year, the event also gathers a growing number of international visitors. Many come by boat, but mostly people arrive in their cars or by train – and arrive at the heart of the festival area. The city is then almost as full as it can be – but luck-ily the surrounding areas also provide ac-commodation.

Opportunity for sponsors

Every year there is a special theme related to the Kotka Sea Festival.

“This year the theme is quite logically the ‘Baltic Sea’. This can be seen in all ac-tions, starting from a special seminar ending with a Baltic Sea Village in the fes-tival area,” says Päiviö.

“We also collaborate with our twin cit-ies around the Baltic rim, inviting them to visit Kotka. Many of them share an interest in developing maritime culture and tourism. We also share a common interest and concern for the Baltic Sea. When thinking of the size of Kotka, the

Photo: Jaana Parkkali



Sea Festival is for sure a success story and a huge event even on the scale of the Baltic Sea. The Sea Festival has also pro-vided experience and stimulated interest in hosting The Tall Ships’ Race (2007) and other festivals.”

Laura Päiviö points out that the event offers a good opportunity for any com-pany to advertise to a large audience.

“There is a special venue for business-to-business events – meetings can be

continued for instance at the sailors’ inn Kairo where sea jazz can be heard – defi-nitely something special. At the theatre we offer a ‘Juha Vainio’ concert, which is a unique performance concentrating on the music of this songwriter.

The lyrics of today’s song-writers are also heard. The major music venue, Aree-na, offers a setting for international bands and Finland’s top singers.

A large event like this would not be

possible without sponsors playing a role. “We have had numerous sponsors

from different fields – naturally the Port of Kotka has played a key role since the event is arranged at the port, and in con-junction with the port. We believe this co-operation will continue in the future.” n

www.kotka.fi www.meripaivat.com

Czar’s fishing lodge and archipelago One popular tourist destination in Kotka – regardless of the sea festival – is Langinkoski’s fishing lodge of the Russian Czar. This is an important feature for developing tourism.

The fishing lodge was built in the late 19th century and was used by Russian Czar Alexander III and his family. Although the lodge would be considered large as a Nordic-style summer cottage or fishing hut, it was surprisingly small and modest for an imperial family that ruled such a vast empire. The main spare time for the imperial family went on fishing and picking mushrooms – two passions that even the richest Russians of today also share.

In addition to Langinkoski, Kotka is known for its beautiful and special archipelago. It is possible to hire a boat, and there are regular boat ser-vices to some islands. n

Photo: Ilja Belik

Photo: Jari Pitkäkangas



Hamina is a small but vivid Finn-ish port town located just next to Russian border. Thanks to its excellent location, transit freight to and from Russia plays an im-portant role. In addition to logis-tics, Hamina has been active in attracting companies in energy technology and ICT sectors.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Hamina

Hamina counts on logistics, energy technology and ICT

After several bad years, city finances are quite balanced, and Hamina has been able to attract non-logistics compa-

nies as well. The most renowned example is Google, who set up a new data center in the old paper factory facilities. Operations of Google in Hamina will begin during this year.

Hamina’s Business Development Di-rector Jukka-Pekka Bergman says that the construction of the data center already employed more people than expected, around 300. “Google has announced that it will employ in the first phase around 50 experts, ranging from Linux system administrators and experienced data center managers to security contractors and technology assistants. The number of permanent jobs will be known during this year.”

Merger of the ports In logistics, Hamina’s role is strengthening. The ports of Hamina and Kotka merged from May 2011 on. The new megaport – in the context of the Baltic Sea – will serve customers in a cost-effective way.

“The fairway leading to Hamina port was improved during 2010, and some dredging was done in the port area. These measures, together with the new strat-egy within the Hamina–Kotka Port, will ensure increased competitiveness”, says Bergman.

“The need for investments is smaller, and when investments are made, coor-dination is easier to realise. There is no danger of over investing. Vessel traffic can flexibly be directed to different port units. For logistics companies, it is easy to choose where to set up an office, ware-house or terminal. Benefits are many.

“The new Hamina–Kotka Port will be the third biggest container port in the Baltic Sea area and a significant hub for liquids, dry bulk, vehicle logistics, forest industry export port, and general cargo port.”

The Hamina–Kotka region also invests in advanced technology. Regional busi-ness development companies Cursor Oy and Winwind Ltd. have signed a coopera-tion agreement on wind energy cluster de-velopment in the Kotka–Hamina region. “Also our energy company Haminan Ener-

gia has been investing strongly in renew-able and distributed energy production,” says Bergman.

Hamina co-operates with several de-velopment organisations, e.g., NELI – North European Logistics Institute, in creating new businesses for the area. The nearby Lappeenranta University of Tech-nology has expertise in logistics and Rus-sian business research. Polytechnic Insti-tutes in Kotka and Kouvola also ensure the availability of skilled workforce and high quality education.

Road giving a boost Also Hamina’s road connections are im-proving.

“We are delighted that Finnish Parlia-ment approved money for the Hamina bypass road, which will be ready during 2014. The bypass road is important from the viewpoint of smooth logistics. Rus-sian transit cargos arrive in harbours of Hamina–Kotka, and continue as rubber-wheel transportation to the Russian bor-der. Furthermore, the new road brings new opportunities for tourism and real estate development. For example, in the future, shopping facilities can also serve Russian tourists, who already now do much shop-ping in Finland.”

Quite many Russian companies already operate in the region, and more are in all likelihood to come. “We can provide land plots and rented premises with competi-tive price in a perfect place between the EU and Russia. For the Russians living in Ham-ina or wishing to set up business here, we have services also in their mother tongue,” says Bergman. n

www.portofhamina.fi



Maritime Expertise by

Ekami

Etelä-Kymenlaakso Vocational College, also known simply as “Ekami”, has varied training pro-grammes, of which those related to logistics are among the most popular. Ekami operates in the cities of Hamina and Kotka.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Ekami

Ekami – Etelä-Kymenlaakso ammattiopisto – in English known as Etelä-Kymenlaakso Vocational College, is a multi-

vocational college. “We are clearly the most popular lo-

cal secondary level educational institute in this region,” says Juha Reivilä, Director of Ekami.

The institute has some 3,900 enrolled students, with about 2,400 of them em-barked on studies aimed at a first voca-tional qualification.

“For adults, Ekami offers the possi-bility to obtain first vocational qualifica-tions, main vocational qualifications and special vocational qualifications, and to benefit from further vocational education and training.”

Ekami also arranges apprenticeship training. There are a total of about 1,500 students engaged in adult education and apprenticeship training.

“Training programmes in logistics and shipping on the adult side of training are very important,” says Juha Reivilä.

“The region of Kotka–Hamina has strong competence in the fields of logis-tics, ports and shipping.

Companies in these fields need an in-creasingly competent workforce. We also train young people to get professional skills in logistics, for example in ware-housing.”

International students are also wel-come for longer-term training, but Finn-ish language skills are required.

Simulator premises renewed Ekami has established a common organi-zation with Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences called Kotka Maritime Centre.

“There are several simulators in the centre. Premises are being refurbished and will be finished during the summer,” says Reivilä.

“Our partners in simulator training are Estonian Maritime Academy and Ad-miral Makarov State Maritime Academy from St Petersburg. We have put on short courses at Kotka Maritime Centre in sim-

ulator training for groups from Belgium, Kuwait and Russia.”

The STS-Crane and Hydraulic Mate-rial Handling Crane simulators are used as part of the training for crane drivers. Every year some 50 Finnish drivers are trained.

Reivilä emphasises that it is not only simulators that form the basis of learning. Theory lessons are needed and practical training is done with forklifts etc.

“In adult training we are able to tailor-make shorter courses according to cus-tomer wishes. In most cases the company pays the complementary training, which lasts from a few days to several weeks.”

“We have brought our expertise to Tallinn, Kunda, as well as Estonia and St Petersburg, but mostly we have courses in Finnish port cities.”

These have been courses rather than longer training programmes. Reivilä be-lieves that Ekami will retain its strong po-sition in maritime training.

“The newly merged Hamina–Kotka port is one of the biggest sea ports in

the whole Baltic Sea region. This mega port with operators, forwarders etc needs a competent work-force. We are one important unit in se-curing effective train-ing.” n

www.ekami.fi



Text: Klaus susiluotoImages: Stella

The Stella Group is an inter-national shipping and lo-gistics company based in Finland. The Group offers a wide range of logistics solu-tions both in Northern Europe and worldwide.

fied lifting solution to suit large pipes.“We were not satisfied with the ex-

isting lifting equipment, so in practice we designed the solution by ourselves, together with our partners. This is one example of the flexible and innovative attitude of Stella Stevedorica. We want to be known for these kinds of solutions that benefit us and our customers,” says Marko Pasi.

“We would like to participate in pro-jects like the Baltic Sea gas pipe logistics, though in a smaller scale. We thus expect more projects in the gas & oil industry, onshore/off-shore especially. It is not only about technology. The gas pipe pro-ject has strengthened us. Employees were committed, and learned to work as one team.”

High and heavy

In the handling of high and heavy proj-ects, cargos play an important part in the Stella Group’s operations. “High and

heavy deliveries gives us an opportunity to show what our special competence is in this business branch.”

Stella Stevedorica is also a subcontrac-tor of the world’s leading car exporters. There was a drastic decrease from 2008 to 2010, but the market is recovering. In 2011 we have seen increased volumes again,” says Marko Pasi

An important concept is one-stop-shop, which means more than a phrase to Stella. “According to the Stella approach, we see logistics as a combining functional piece in a smart way to provide the best possible customer solutions. Without a good network you just cannot build a successful customer solution,” says Marko Pasi.

“During this year we will reshape our group into an entity that can support the growth of our customers even better than previously. New facilities open up new opportunities, improving our own and customers’ competitiveness.”

“The engine for our growth is Finnish

The Stella Group had a key role in the logistics of Baltic Sea gas pipe project, which links Russia and Germany.

Stella was in charge of running the gas pipe coating factory logistics, as well as unloading ships and wagons, handling customs operations for bonded ware-housing and acquiring special equip-ment. Between June 2008 and late Febru-ary 2011, there were altogether 214,000 movements and a total of 3,415,000 tons of materials. By the end of the project in the summer 2011, the volume will reach 3,900,000 tons.

Marko Pasi, Managing Director of Stella Stevedorica, one of Stella group companies, says that the project indeed has been challenging.

“Continuous, even intense coopera-tion with our client plays an important role. The project is interesting technical-ly, and thanks to tailor-made equipment we can manage well. Pipes are mainly handled by reach-stackers with a modi-

– Improving Customers’ Competitiveness

Stella Group



Text: Klaus susiluotoImages: Stella

industry. Our duty is to build logistics so-lutions, through which the competitive-ness of our customers in the global mar-ket improves,” says Pasi.

Clearly-defined products

The Stella Group also puts emphasis on marketing on a group level and strategic planning. The group’s Vice President, Business Development, Toni Berkowits, assists in these issues.

“The target of the Stella Group is to re-enter the strong growth after the re-cession. I hope I can bring some insight in sales power and marketing skills to the group,” says Berkowits.

“At the group level, we have now clearly-defined products. What we need now is spear-head marketing, to bring the message to the potential new customers in a way that promotes communication and interaction with them. To bring Stel-la’s brand name onto a new level is one key target in Finnish and international market.

“We strongly believe that generating new clientele requires an active attitude, customer communication and presence on both local and global level.If you do not tell your message to customers, no one else will do it for you,” reminds Toni Berkowits.

Kotka’s role

Not long ago, another Stella group com-pany, Stella Corona, opened a new ware-house in the Port of Kotka. “Stella Corona is an important unit in the Stella Group,” says Berkowits.

“The role of Kotka is important in our operations. A great deal of our personnel works there. Also major cargo handling operations take place there. Stella has in-vested a lot in Kotka premises and cargo handling equipment.

“The merger of Hamina and Kotka ports took place in May this year. It will affect business in a positive way, making the position of the new megaport Hami-na-Kotka even stronger,” says Berkowits.

www.groupstella.com

Stella Group



Kouvola:2.5 hours from Russia’s second city

Kinno – Kouvola Innovation Oy - pro-vides services in five main fields: business, travel, development, logis-tics and business premises. Mr. Isto Kiviniemi is in charge of logistics.

“Kouvola’s location is one of the best in Finland when planning trans-portations to Asia and Russia, from and to Finland as well as Europe.”

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Kouvola City

Like in every other business branch, there is much to be de-veloped in the field of logistics, says Kiviniemi.

“Key issues are delivery time and cost-efficiency. In some cases the end-user needs items quickly; then the price is not the main factor. And any ambitious company aims at cost-efficiency, and tries to find the best schedules in the logistics chain.”

“These two issues will decide where logistics companies set up their termi-nals and warehouses. Kouvola’s location is one of the best in Finland – it has been said that Kouvola is Finland’s leading dry land port.- a port in the ‘backyard’ of some major port.”

“Through good rail connections, Kou-vola is available to all Finnish ports, the biggest of which is only 60 km from Kou-vola. Additionally, there is a wide distri-bution network in the Kouvola region for domestic users. The Kouvola Logistics Centre can offer prerequisites for inter-national operations as well.”

The role of recently-merged Hamina-Kotka Port is huge for Kouvola.

“Cooperation with operators and for-warders working in Hamina and Kotka ports is important to Kouvola’s logistics development. The Hamina-Kotka Port needs, in addition to their own areas, a good dry land port, with good traffic con-nections and up-to-date cargo handling equipment and services.

“Companies in the Kouvola region can

offer some special services. A good exam-ple is PDI – pre-delivery inspection – of agricultural machines. This means that a kind of the finishing touch is made to these machines: inspection is done, and some small damages in paint and me-chanics are repaired when needed.” (dur-ing transportations some minor damages may occur).

According to Kiviniemi. the Kouvola

region could be a distribution centre and components network centre.

“For example, the automotive industry is quite strong in the St. Petersburg area. Components are being consolidated in the Kouvola area to be sent to assembling units in St. Petersburg and other parts of West Russia. It is not impossible that there could be components manufactur-ing in the Kouvola region too.”



Business base in Kouvola

Isto Kiviniemi believes that rail logistics offers excellent opportunities to the Kou-vola region.

“Kouvola is the centre of rail logistics in Finland and it is only a little more than 100 km to the Russian border. There are, however, some hindrances for further developments. Border-crossings should be simpler, whether it is rail or rubber-wheeled traffic. What we need is predict-ability. However, in spite of minor prob-lems, Finnish-Russian border functions better than other Russian border-cross-ing units.”

In addition to cargo, people move is getting easier. The newly-opened fast train connection Allegro means that it is only 2.5 hours to Russia’s second city from Kouvola.

“Definitely this connection opens up new opportunities for the travel indus-try on both sides of the border. The 2.5 hours’ travel time means that Russian and international companies could set up businesses in Kouvola, for example, sales representatives. In this way, Russian com-panies would operate in the EU area and be close to Europe, in a well-functioning business environment. And the other way around, western companies wishing to work on Russian market could set up their agencies in Kouvola as well,” says Kiviniemi.

www.kinno.fi

Finnish-Russian border functions better than other Russian border-crossing units.”


logistics


INTERNATIONALINNOVATION

HUB

AVIAPOLIS


logistics


INTERNATIONALINNOVATION

HUB

AVIAPOLIS

aviapolis


Airport Cluster Finland (www.airportcluster.fi) is a non-profit clustering organisation

that aims at creating new turnkey solu-tions for airports. The organisation gets funding both from the public and private sources and works with Vantaa Innova-tion Institute to promote and develop its members’ products and services. Mikko Punakivi reminds that China,

India, Russia and some East European countries have especially strong needs for new or renewed airports. According to estimates, in China alone, 100 to 130 airports will be built.

“India also needs tens of new or re-newed airports. It seems, however, that India is not an easy market to work with, but some of our member companies like Vaisala have succeeded even there.”

Russia needs new airports as well. During the Soviet time many airports were built, but many are located in wrong places, built for military use rather than for civil aviation. In East Europe, many airports are enlarged or new airports are planned. “For example, in the Czech Re-public, Vodochodý airport enlargement in Prague and a new Ostrava airport are planned.”

There were good grounds to form Finnish airport cluster as a non-profit marketing organisation. “Global invest-ments in airports in the coming decades are huge. Finn-ish companies aim at getting a fair share of orders relat-ed to this interesting sector,” says Mikko Punakivi, Director of the Cluster Programmes in Vantaa Innovation Institute.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Sini Pennanen, Airport Cluster

Airport Snow-how and Much More

AirportClusterteam:MikkoPunakivi,MinnaNiskanen,MikkoSjöberg,RistoArttola

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“The economic downturn in 2008–2009 had naturally some effect on plans. Projects may be delayed, but in the longer run airports will have to be developed,” says Punakivi.

NOT JUST AIRPORTS

Practical work of the airport cluster mar-keting is done by Mikko Sjöberg. He had

been working in aviation busi-ness for 12 years before entering Airport Cluster Finland organi-sation in late 2009. Sjöberg says that it is important to see the big picture:

“Modern airports are not just airports. Some airports like the Frankfurt or Dubai airports are important shopping centres. Frankfurt airport gets even 60% of its income from retail services and facility rents, more than from passenger fees. Frankfurt has in-vested not only in passengers’ shopping. Retail areas for non-flying customers are wide.

“Parking can also bring ex-tra income. For example, the Helsinki airport gets good share of its non-aeronautical revenue from parking services and non-aeronautical revenue is more than 30% of the total revenue.

“It has been interesting to see how aviation and airport busi-nesses have developed. In Finland we have strong companies related

to these issues, and the cluster at the mo-ment has 24 members. We have firms in security solutions, construction, chemi-cals, electronics, services, etc.. Also Fina-via, a service company that operates Finn-ish airport network, is our member. They have a profound view on how to manage airports.”

Airport Cluster Finland is one of the few cluster-type actors in its field of exper-

tise. In Germany there is a project GATE – German Airport Technology and Equip-ment programme – to promote German expertise. In Denmark the Danish Export Group has an airport division, but it is not the same approach that we have. There is much expertise related to airports in Fin-land. For example, the so-called snow-how is one of these,” says Mikko Sjöberg.

In Finnish airports, snow removal and de-icing (for existing ice) as well as anti-icing (preventive) are done in a skilful way, and there are firms that construct machin-ery or chemicals related to snow-how.

“To compare with, Europe’s largest air-port Heathrow has 50 machines to remove snow and ice. The Helsinki airport has 250, and it has right types of vehicles, chemi-cals and heaters for melting the ice, and other equipment. It is natural that they do not have so much machinery in Heathrow, since British or Central European airports even do not have a snowy winter every year. But the winter 2010–2011 proved that they have too little snow-how and too few machines.”

UBIQUITOUS HELSINKI–VANTAA

“Ubiquitous” means that information systems are linked, and virtually every-thing is linked to the information systems through technologies such as wireless networking and RFID tags.

“The concept has also been used in our development work,” says project manager Risto Arttola.

“The ubiquitous Helsinki–Vantaa” was

Airport Snow-how

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PART OF AVIAPOLIS ACTIVITIES

Airport Cluster Finland started its operations in Helsinki–Van-taa in December 2009 with 12 member companies. Today the cluster has 24 members. Activities and operations are executed by Vantaa Innovation Institute Oy and the main financier is Uudenmaan ELY-keskus for the starting period of 2010–2011. All Finnish companies and other actors in the field of airport business, airport technologies and solutions and related R&D are invited to join the community. Cluster activi-ties are also expected to strengthen the development of the airport city Aviapolis, which is the dynamic business environ-ment around. Premises of the airport cluster are just next to the Helsinki–Vantaa terminal buildings.

List of members and main expertise, see www.airportcluster.fi.

Other clusters in the Vantaa region:

RFID Lab Finland, www.rfidlab.fi Sensor Center, www.sence.fi Green Net Finland, www.greennetfinland.fiKites, www.kites.fi Cide Cluster Filand, www.cidecluster.fi

in fact the first development project of Airport Cluster Finland. The project aimed to support Helsinki Airport’s position and further devel-opment as a world’s top class hub-airport.”

The ubiquitous project was launched in May 2010 and it includes two different pilots. The first pilot includes the development of safety and operation models in Helsinki Airport apron area with the use of wireless iden-tification and censoring. The second pilot focuses on the controlling and optimizing of passenger flow in Helsinki Airport by using RFID and wireless data-sharing technologies.

“The bottlenecks of the airport should be analysed. It is especially important to observe how passengers move in termi-nals,” says Arttola.

“It is all about decreasing the level of stress. It is quite natural that people are a little bit stressed on the eve of their flight. And if signs, departure announcements, security checks, sitting facilities, etc. are of bad quality, stress can raise unneces-sarily high.”

“In these kinds of situations, personi-fied information is important. But a mo-bile phone is sometimes a too intimate tool to be used – the feeling that I’ve been followed or at least surveyed is not nice. An activated card might be a better choice.”

SURVEILLANCE OF AIRPORT VEHICLES

In addition to people flow, it is also im-portant to know where important ve-hicles and machines in the airport area are located at a given time. For example, Controlmatic is an expert on location in-formation. The company has developed a system to monitor the location of airport buses.

“The tracking system has been in-stalled into 10 airport buses in order to monitor the use of buses at the apron area.” (The airport ramp or apron is part of an airport. It is usually the area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refuelled or boarded.)

“The real-time tracking system im-

proves the utilization of buses and helps to keep track if buses are available or not. The tracking system also alerts if the vehicle en-ters the runway area. The data collected by the sys-tem can be used to allocate the resources efficiently and to avoid unnecessary investments,” says Arttola.

The second phase of the pilot 1 will focus on the monitoring and tracking of weapons that are used in apron area by the mainte-nance staff.

“It is also important to know where weapons used to eliminate or scare ani-

mals are located. Big animals do not enter the airport, since it is fenced, but smaller ones like foxes and raccoon dogs can cause troubles. The biggest problems are from birds. Some birds come in swarms of hundreds and like to rest in open plac-es like airfields.” n

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RFID has been used quite much in access control and person identification in the past decades. More recently, it has been taken into use in retail and logistics. The clothing industry uses the technology a lot. Store inventory is much faster with RFID.

“RFID can play a major role in tighten-ing inventory and shipping logistics along the entire chain. Tags can store a pointer to item-level information, from the site and date of manufacture, to stock keep-ing unit,” explains Wallinheimo.

One application is RFID gate, which allows the identification and tracking of large product flows automatically, effi-ciently and quickly. Gates can be installed in doorways, truck loading docks and au-tomated conveyor belts.

There is a demo gate in RFID Lab, the function of which Mr Wallinheimo explained – the system seems to be very quick and easy to follow. A kind of traf-fic light tells the fork lift driver, if every-thing is OK, and goods can be delivered further. If any item is missing, the signal light turns red.

Consumer applications are getting more varied. NFC or Near-Field Commu-nication is a kind of RFID for the smart

The Bright Future of RFIDJukka Wallinheimo, Executive Director of RFID Lab Finland, says that we are entering a new era with the technology of RFID – Radio Frequency Identification. “Although not a new technol-ogy, with the help of other techniques and software de-velopment, RFID will comple-ment and even replace the bar code and some other ap-plications” says Wallinheimo.

mobile device. This means that the device has an inbuilt tag read-er. Killer applications can be found in payment and ticketing, fetching addi-tional information by touching the tags in the environment.

The bright future

Wallinheimo visions that RFID will be-come a big part of consumer shopping experiences. “Consumers will drive ad-aptation. In retail shops this kind of gates can be applied. Instead of reading the bar-code one-by-one, the whole shop-ping trolley can be taken past the cashier, reading all the items once.

“But even if RFID is an excellent tech-nology, it is still good to analyse costs carefully, even to do ROI or Return on Investment analysis. For example, the cheapest tags today cost only 5 to 6 cents in high volumes, but it is still too much to be used in milk bottles or other inex-pensive items, where the bar code still dominates.

“Generally the future of RFID looks bright. It has been estimated that RFID business will grow 4 to 5 times bigger in the next ten years in terms of cumula-tive revenues globally, from recent 5 to 6 billion up to 20 to 25 billion euros,” says Wallinheimo

RFID Lab Finland

RFID Lab Finland is a neutral non-profit association with about 50 member com-panies and organisations. The aim is to enhance business development based on Finnish know-how in the field of auto-matic identification, especially in RFID technology. RFID Lab is partly funded by the City of Vantaa, but mainly by the member companies.

The lab offers education, training and

neutral consulting and organises semi-nars and road-shows in other Finnish cit-ies. Premises of RFID Lab are located in Technopolis Vantaa building in the vicin-ity of the Helsinki–Vantaa Airport. There is a small showroom in connection to the lab.

The RFID Spring Seminar presenting several new cases for potential utilizers is arranged at Hilton Hotel Helsinki–Van-taa Airport on May 31, 2011. n

www.rfidsummit.fi

aviapolis


The Boeing 717 is a modern air-craft to operate short- and me-dium-haul flights, making it the

perfect type for flights between Europe and Finland.

“All of the aircraft are manufactured during 2000’s and equipped with mod-ern technology. The Boeing 717 has size comparable with larger aircraft. There is enough seating place and leg room. The luggage store is also equal in volume to that of larger aircraft,” says Tom Chris-tides, Vice President Communications of Blue1.

“We have leased six Boeing 717 planes,

with three more to come by the end of March. The 717s can seat 115 passengers. In a way, our previous plane was too big with 166 seats. We still have 5 AVRO four-engine planes, three ATRs and two SAAB 2000 planes. Old MD 90 airplanes will not be used any more.”

Blue1 Premium

Blue1 has only two classes, Economy and Blue1 Premium. The latter one is almost equal to business class.

“Well, you do not get champagne, but a good selection of food and drinks

To meet the challenges the needs of rapidly expanding route network, Blue1 is investing in a new fleet of Boeing 717 aircraft.

The New Look of

are included. Fares are just significantly lower. Premium includes genuine busi-ness class features such as Business-Class check-in, fast-track security control, pre-mium-class seating, a baggage allowance of two pieces of 23 kilos and flexible re-booking options with Blue1 or SAS. Full refund is possible,” says Tom Christides.

If traveller does not need a flexible ticket, the choice is Premium Holiday. It means seating in the Premium Cabin, but without the flexibility to re-book and cancel. Economy Class offers good basic service.

Blue1

aviapolis


Part of SAS Group

Blue1 has been part of SAS Group since 1998, which supports company’s opera-tions in a good way.

“We are also member of Star Alliance. Being part of this alliance gives us a total of 1170 destinations. Our own route net-work of Blue1 route covers major North and Central European cities. The number of our passengers increased to 1.5 mil-lion.”

“We started three new destinations already in 2010, Berlin, Brussels and München. We now have two daily flights also to London, Brussels, Paris and Zürich, from March on, to Amsterdam,” says Christides.

“We also have so-called summer col-lection - destinations to France, Croatia and Scotland. In France we have Nice and Marseille as a new one, In Croatia Dubrovnik and Split. Pula is a new des-tination. To Edinburgh we also fly in the summer time only.”

“Flowing"

Stockholm and Copenhagen play an im-portant role in Blue1’s strategy:

“We have Vaasa–Stockholm, Tam-pere–Stockholm and Turku–Stockholm routes, where we have established po-sition.” Copenhagen ensures connect-ing flights to North America and Asia. “SAS is launching Copenhagen Shanghai route in addition to Tokyo, Bangkok and Beijing.”

Blue 1 operates in Helsinki in the ter-minal one, which is quite compact.

“However, the terminal can become even two small within a couple of years. Modernisation and enlargement of the terminal would benefit customers.” Since this year, Blue1 also has had a new visual look.

“Aalto University participated in the work. The winning proposal was called Flowing. Also Air Finland and Finnair have renewed their visual outlook, but Blue1 was the first to launch the new look.” n

www.blue1.fi

aviapolis


ScanWings Ltd is a Finnish company which offers the first-class business flights. It operates from Helsinki–Vantaa international airport with a

jet and two prop planes. The phone lines are open 24 hours a day, 7days a week. They are ready to operate on a notice given two hours earlier.

“Time is money. There’s no reason to queue in lines at the airports when it’s pos-sible to save several hours of working time by flying with us. It’s a lot easier and quicker when one can board the aircraft via the busi-ness terminal – all the luggage handling and security checks are provided. Air travelling is a lot faster. Furthermore, there’s no need to worry about time-consuming flight transfers and traffic, because ScanWings flies directly to the nearest airport,” Sales Manager Yrjö Jussila says.

Schedule will be tailored to fit the pas-sengers’ needs. If the travelling plans change, no matter with the timetable or destination, ScanWings is flexible: one phone call and a new flight plan will be mapped out.

“The passenger can concentrate on his/her work, prepare for a business meeting, or just kick back and relax during the flight. We order our catering from high-end gourmet restaurants to serve our clients the luxury they deserve. Our aircraft seat configurations have been tailored to the best possible facili-ties required for in-flight business meetings. Professional travellers can benefit from this. Travelling is not luxury, but hard work,” Yrjö Jussila ensures.

ScanWings – Almost there

ScanWings is a business flight company that wants to take you higher. It offers its clients top notch service.

Text: Juhana HurulaPictures: Sini Pennanen, ScanWings

aviapolis


FLEET

ScanWings has a fleet that includes three pressurised Beechcraft 90 King Air turbo-props and the company’s pride and joy, the Cessna Citation CJ2+ jet aircraft. The jet costs 7 million USD. It flies at the altitude of 14 kilometres, whilst normal flight traffic flies at 10 to 12 kilometres.

“You don’t need to make way for anyone, because there’s no-one up there. There’s even no worry about thunder storms, be-cause we’re flying over them,” Jussila says and smiles.

Depending on the amount of passengers, the King Air can operate up to 2 000 kilome-tres, whilst Citation jet has a range of 2 800 kilometres and its cruising speed reaches 780 kilometres per hour. Within this distance are Paris, Rome and London.

If the destination is further away, there’s no difficulty to have a stopover to refuel. “Once we flew to Phuket, Thailand. We stopped four times to refill the tanks,” Jussila says.

All the aircrafts are equipped with up-to-date gadgets: ground warning, etc.

For full safety measures, ScanWings flights are flown by two pilots. n

www.scanwings.fi

aviapolis


Palace Kämp Group is a modern and multifaceted group of lifestyle businesses and services. It includes a col-lection of the most renowned hotels and restaurants.

Hotel GLO

T he group has three luxury ho-tels in the Helsinki city cen-tre, one business-class hotel in connection to the Sello

shopping centre and one smaller, ex-tremely practical hotel at Helsinki–Van-taa International Airport.

Hotel GLO Helsinki Airport at Hel-sinki–Vantaa International Airport is the only hotel located in the airport building itself, on the service floor of Terminal 2 and with direct indoor access from Ter-minal 1. The small intimate hotel has 37 rooms, including single and double rooms and two special rooms with sau-nas. Small meetings up to eight persons can be arranged, and naturally the airport has larger meeting rooms as well.

For many business travellers the air-port hotel is the best solution. The need for car or taxi services and airport com-muting is eliminated due to the location at the heart of Helsinki–Vantaa Airport. Traveller can enjoy extra sleeping time, without wasting time for commuting. The perfect location makes it convenient when travelling with small children, large quantities of luggage, or when the flight is departing very early, or arriving very late.

In addition to its ideal location, com-fort and personal service are guaranteed when enjoying the exclusive service at the new Hotel GLO Helsinki Airport. GLO also optionally offers day rooms. These are made available, depending on the booking situation, between 9 am and 7 pm.

Guestrooms offer every comfort you need - the modern rooms have no win-dows and are therefore whisper quiet. All rooms were renovated in the autumn 2010.

There are a variety of things to make

- Enjoy additional sleep time travelling easier including premium TV channels, pay movies, minibar and wire-less high-speed. Internet access is for free. Hotel GLO Helsinki Airport offers also complimentary breakfast 24 hours a day. You can check the flight information at the comfort of the hotel’s lobby.

GLO Bar at the hotel offers a variety of beverages and a perfect spot for a relax-ing time away from your room. The ho-tel bar is a great place to meet with your friends or to wait for the arriving passen-gers due to the location right next to the arrivals hall. n

Aviap

olis Hotel GLO

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Aviap

olis

Palace Kämp hotels in the city centre

If you need high-quality hotel in the Hel-sinki city centre, you can choose from three hotels in the Palace Kämp group. Hotel Kämp has been listed on many lux-ury hotel categories, and Hotel GLO City Centre is the epitome of what you would call a modern and urban lifestyle hotel. Hotel Linna (“Castle”) is the most unique chateau hotel in Helsinki, where the word average is simply not in the vocabulary. The uniqueness of the Art Nouveau building of Hotel Linna is evident from its beautiful façade and its intricate details which so aptly reflect its long history.

All Palace Kämp luxuriously have com-fortable rooms, suites are both spacious and stylish, and the restaurant services are unequalled in the whole Helsinki. n

More about Hotel GLO Helsinki Airport and other Palace Kämp hotels and restaurants at www.palacekamp.fi

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SOKOS HOTEL VANTAA– KEEPING THE SCENE ALIVE

Aviap

olisSokos Hotels is the biggest hotel chain in Finland, with an

assortment of over 40 hotels in Finland, Tallinn and St. Petersburg. According to Statistics Finland, it holds one

fifth of the domestic market. All of the hotels are located in the cities’ centre or at leisure sites and have good transport connec-tions.

“Three most important factors of a hotel are location, loca-tion and location,” Heli Engblom, the general manager of Sokos Hotel Vantaa and Flamingo, says and grins.

Sokos Hotel Vantaa

Sokos Hotel Vantaa is situated in Tikkurila, Vantaa, just next to the railway station. It started off as a five-star white glove hotel back in 1991, before the current owner bought the property and lowered it into a four-star hotel, introducing a dance element to the concept. This light-yellow hotel offers many restaurants and conference services. It has become a popular meeting place for local people, however it attracts visitors from hundreds of

Sokos Hotel Vantaa is a place where local party heads and international business folk all live as one.

Text: Juhana HuurulaImages: Sini Pennanen, Sokos Hotels

aviapolis


Aviap

olis

HeliEngblom,GeneralManagerofSokosHotelVantaaandFlamingo

Leisure & Relaxation

Sokos Hotels offers a wide selection of different lei-sure packages to fit the needs of one’s preferences: culture, fitness, pampering or partying.

Business traveling Sokos Hotels lures business travelers by offering an S-Card that provides its users various benefits and discounts.

Company

Sokos Hotels is part of S-ryhmä, a Finnish co-opera-tive trade corporate group. It was founded in 1904. It is composed of the SOK Corporation and its sub-sidiaries in addition to 22 regional co-ops. It has 1.9 million customer-owners.

kilometers away. Finns love their “ruotsinlaiva”, which is a ferry trip to Stockholm. This hotel is an equivalent on the dry land – “Booze & Snooze”.

There are five restaurants to fit the needs of different cus-tomers. Sevilla is a laid-back Spanish-style restaurant; Point is a lobby pub with a nice selection of whiskeys; Pub Hertas is a popular place with karaoke; Night Vantaa is a night club for younger generations. And the last but definitely not the least, Tulisuudelma restaurant is an 18-year old dancing restaurant venue. At Tulisuudelma restaurant, one can enjoy the tackiest and nostalgic tunes of the past, whilst tribute bands, has-been artists and evergreeners kick out the jams.

“It’s a phenomenon,” Engblom says. The 14 meeting rooms (seating 6 to 350 people) all come

equipped with wireless internet connection, data projectors and laptops. There is also a private business center at the disposal of the meeting manager.

In addition, the hotel has four private saunas for 6 to 60 peo-ple, as well as comfortable relaxation rooms with a view. n

www.sokoshotels.fi

aviapolis


Wireless internet in your car

Avis opened in Finland in 1969 and currently operates in over 110 locations across the country, making it Finland’s largest car rental chain.

“Avis service is based on a safe and dependable fleet of ve-hicles,” says Avis marketing manager Marko Haakanen. “Rental periods range from a single day to several months depending on the needs of the customer. We can also provide different services and products for travellers on business or for pleasure.”

These services include GPS navigation, roof racks and the op-tion of having the car dropped off at a specific location and being picked up again. “Our concept also includes a 24-hour service number in case of unforeseen problems while you are on the road,” says Haakanen.

Avis’ latest service is mobile internet in the car, which in-cludes all data traffic in the fee. The service is provided by re-cently established Finnish company Zonga. Comprehensive fleet

Customers can reserve a car on the internet by calling the ser-vice centre or from their travel agent. They can also contact their nearest Avis branch.

Although cars are usually dropped off or picked up from par-ticular Avis locations, the company can deliver to a hotel or busi-ness and arrange for it to be collected again afterwards.

The Avis fleet consists of a large variety of makes and models, from compacts to minivans. There are also specialities such as vans and luxury cars. The majority of the fleet has manual gears, but automatic compacts, mid-sized and large cars are available.

The fleet is changed and renewed throughout the year so spe-cific brands or models cannot be reserved. Instead, customers can choose a particular class of car.

Things to consider

In order to rent a car, customers need to provide an interna-tional credit card, drivers’ licence and have over a year of driving experience. There are also age restrictions to consider that apply to different classes of car. n

www.avis.fi

aviapolis


H ertz was originally founded in 1918 in the United States. It has operated in Finland since 1966 and cur-rently has 70 locations across the country.

The core of the company’s business is short-term passenger car and truck rental for holiday and business trips, mini-leasing services and service loan cars. In addition Hertz offers support-ing services such as drop off and pick up, online check-in and additional insurances.

“You can reserve a car online by calling the service centre or by visiting a Hertz location,” says Jaakko Haikonen, market-ing manager for Hertz Finland. “You can also pick up your car from the Hertz location, in case of a loan, from the dealership or it can be delivered to you. It is possible to return the car to the same location or to any other Hertz location in Finland.”

During the peak season Hertz has a fleet of 2,000 ve-hicles. The most common brand in the fleet is Volvo, but the company also has Ford, Peugeot and Nissan cars, all of wich are equipped with manual gears.

Always check the rental agreement

Customers should always be aware of what is stated in their rental agreement and should

check thevehicle for pre-existing damage. Comprehensive super cover insurance is worth considering when renting a vehicle in an unfamiliar country.

"Renting a car allows you to be flexible and to go as you please during your stay. Hertz can provide you with a car for a short perioid of time, or up to a year with the mini-leasing service. Hertz canalso provide competitive rates to corporate custom-ers. From our wide selection of cars, everyone can find a vehicle tosuit their needs," says Haikonen. n

- Cars for Vacation and Business Trips

www.hertz.fi

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Perfect customer service

Sixt Rent a Car is famous for having fast rental administration, a simple reservation system and ready-to-go cars. It was recently voted the best car rental company in the world by readers of Business Traveler USA.

As in all Sixt offices, Sixt Finland is committed to providing its customers with perfect service.

Customers have a choice of reserving a car using the phone, internet, smartphone or email.

The Sixt smartphone application has become increasingly popular over the past few years. With the Sixt Express Card, cus-tomers can save valuable time when booking and picking up a car as all their details are saved under their loyalty card number.

In central Europe, Sixt has quick check-in kiosks where cus-tomers can simply enter their reservation number, sign the rent-al agreement electronically and collect their car keys from an electronic deposit box. This facility is not yet available in Finland but the company says that its friendly staff make sure customers get their keys within minutes.

"Cars are serviced regularly to ensure maximum safety for customers," says Sixt Finland's marketing manager Taina Kivistö. "They are cleaned just before the customer's arrival to ensure comfort. Naturally, Sixt offers any additional equipment required such as child or baby seats, navigation systems, winter packages and ski racks. In many locations the secure key drop box gives customers the possibility of returning the car at any time."

Automatic and manual

Sixt Finland has a large variety of vehicles ranging from small economy cars to vans, trucks and luxury SUVs. Cars are avail-able with either automatic or manual gears.

As a subsidiary to Veho Group, Sixt Finland is able to cater for all the needs of its customers and for any size order. Sixt has around 100,000 rental cars around the world, excluding limou-sines and lease vehicles, and it is Mercedes-Benz’s biggest cor-porate client. All Sixt cars are new; their average age is just six months.

“During the summer, Sixt Finland also offers more exotic cars like cabriolets. In Spain, France and Germany Sixt custom-ers have the choice of Sixt Luxury Cars. How about a Ferrari or a Maserati? Or perhaps you prefer a Rolls Royce?” suggests Kivistö.

As with all car rental companies, Sixt customers need to pro-vide a valid drivers’ license and credit card in order to rent a car. Online customers can also opt for a prepaid booking, which can lower the price by up to 10 percent.

Insurance can be purchased from Sixt to cover the car in case of an accident.

Loss damage waivers do not provide cover in case something happens to the glass or tyres of the car, so customers can opt for special glass and tyre insurance.

"Insurance policies cab have major differences depending on the country you rent the car in. It is advisable to make the book-ing in your home country where you can ask questions from a local Sixt representative in your own language. In Finland, dur-ing the winter all Sixt cars comes with winter tyres with studs, as winter chains are not used in Finland - despite what many southern customers think," says Kivistö. n

Sixt Finland Sixt Finland began operating in 2005 and has grown rapidly despite the economic down-turn. Today, the company has 22 offices in major cities and airports across Finland. In July 2010, it was acquired by Veho Group, the largest automotive corporation in Finland.

- Committed to Customer Service

www.sixt.fi

aviapolis


L apponia Lakka cloudberry liqueur makes an excellent gift to bring back home from Finland. This exotic drink is made from hand-picked cloudberries and can be enjoyed

just as it is, but it goes particularly well with coffee and desserts. Lapponia’s tradition of liqueur-making goes all the way

to 1867, when Russian Tsar Aleksander II granted rights to Turku-based merchant Anders Nordfors to manufacture alcoholic beverages. The production of Lapponia Lakka li-queurs has remained in Turku in southern Finland to this day.

Lapponia Lakka, a golden, delicate and aromatic liqueur, is made from hand-picked cloudberries from Finnish nature.

Part of a global group

Lapponia is now part of the Pernod Ricard group, a world-lead-ing wine and spirits producer known for its premium brands. Pernod Ricard’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes, Absolut Vodka, and Scotch whiskies Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet.

Cloudberry (rubus chamaemorus) is often seen as a Nordic berry, but it grows in northern Russia all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Cloudberries also grow wild in northern Canada and Alaska. Cloudberry is a marsh plant with many different names in Finnish. Its berries can be found in open and wood-covered marshlands all over the country.

The leaves of the cloudberry are very sensitive to harsh grow-ing conditions, such as heavy rains or night frosts. In Finland, the plant’s white flowers are in bloom in June and the golden berries ripen in July/August. A ripe berry is yellow, juicy and

tasty. Cloudberries are one of the most valued wild berries in Finland.

Cloudberries contain more fibre than other Finnish berries, and their vitamin A and C content is high. They also contain more vitamin E than many other fruit and vegetables. Cloudber-ries are even used in skincare products made by the cosmetics industry. n

- Experience the Northern Wilderness

Lapponia Lakka Cloudberry Liqueur

Aviap

olis

www.pernod-ricard-finland.com


Pertti Palmroth collection has been divided into three different segments: classic, fashion and casual."

MikkoPalmroth,managingdirectorofPalmrothfamilybusiness


- summer collection goes in green, blue and light beige

Pertti Palmroth all-season boots have been known for luxurious materials and fashionable designs for many decades. The company is

known also for fashionable summer shoes. “Blue and green are this season’s colours.

Light beige is also one of the colours of the season.

What we call animal prints is also popular,” notes Mikko Palmroth, managing director of Palmroth family business.

“We use mainly best Italian leather, but manufacture shoes ourselves right from the beginning.

Our products are designed by a 5–6 per-sons design team, in which youth, fashion and the company’s long traditions are combined. We do not use freelance designers.”

Pertti Palmroth collection has been di-vided into three different segments: classic,

Boots and shoes by

Pertti Palmroth

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: Sini Pennanen, Pertti Palmroth

culture & design


We use mainly best Italian leather, but manufacture shoes ourselves right from the beginning."

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fashion and casual. This can also be seen in the summer collection.

“Palmroth boots and shoes are sold abroad our shops are in Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin and Maastricht, but through de-partment stores there are many more sales point. We sell through Stockmann in Finland and Russia. Sokos and some other renowned department stores Fin-land sell our shoes, boots and bags,” tells Mikko Palmroth.

“More and more tourists and busi-ness travellers visiting Helsinki buy Pertti Palmroth shoes directly from outlets. The Helsinki shops are in the city centre ( three shops) and Itäkeskus.We have out-let also in Tampere and Turku.”

One of Pertti Palmroth’s strengths is that the company can offer also bags, which often complement the shoes.

Compared to high quality, Pertti Palmroth shoes are not expensive. Typi-cally prices are 150–200 euros, and only rarely more than 300 euros.

Manufacturing is in own hands. “Pertti Palmroth-products are manu-

factured in our own production units in Finland. Company’s factories locate in Tampere and Virrat. We manufacture 80 000 pairs of shoes every year.”

Today, the focus is on exclusive foot-wear made of soft leathers and warm lamb skins along with the famous all-weather boots. All-Weather material and Waterproof-suede that have been designed for the demanding, cold and slushy weather condition of the North.” n

www.palmroth.com

122 Business Finland 2/2011Imaginary Scenery


The paintings of Susiluoto are – according to the words of the critic Ca Lindelof – “outbursts, diving deep into expressionism”. Had the word not suffered such infla-

tion, one could perhaps speak of a Dostoeyeskian touch. In many paintings, Susiluoto reaches into the depth of the human mind. Many pictures in his “erotic series” breathe jealousy but also sensual touches and softer features.

One of the most masterful works on these pages is “The Dwarf with Three Ladies”. It is a special combination of rose and gray-purple, and also has a suggestion of red-purple. This kind of pictures, working on a quiet narrow colour-scale based on near-colours and colour shifts, is hard to accomplish. The gallery of persons in this painting is itself tasty: a little grotesque but at the same time peaceful.

Carried out by his amazing imagination, Susiluoto finds sur-prising, comical and grotesque shades in every life. Objects, characters, strange monsters and bird-people merge into a kind of “mood story”. Susiluoto often divides the canvas of his paint-ing in a half-cubist way: the foreground is occupied, for example, by one or more female figures; the background by a bull- or bird-like man or a man in general – in many cases, representing the artist’s own alter ego.

With regard to erotic art, Susiluoto’s work is world-class. He possesses both Picasso’s sexual passion with destructive ele-

Ahti Susiluoto

Ahti Susiluoto has travelled open-mindedly with his fellow-countrymen, sometimes pro-vokingly, often also ironically – perhaps above all – while engaged in a form of grief work. As Susiluoto says, “Art is grief work: a kind of sor-row is usually included in the process. But art is also openness to others.”

- Outbursts of Inner Energy

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124 Business Finland 2/2011The Dwarf with Three Ladies

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ments and Matisse’s sensuality (for example, he has painted a wonderful version of Matisse’s Dance). Although he has bor-rowed freely from both masters, Susiluoto’s art is entirely unique and forms a unity based on his own experiences and observa-tions.

Vasarely and three-dimensionality

Susiluoto has a real command of Modernism’s different isms methods and stylistic tricks of his fellow artists of the past. A legion of names have indeed been connected to his art: not only Matisse and Picasso, but also masters of abstract or semi-ab-stract painters like Kandinsky, Miro, or Klee. But it has actually been Victor Vasarely with his kinetic art that gives the biggest impulses to Susiluoto in his abstract paintings. Although not always successful in his efforts, Susiluoto has aimed to trans-form the two-dimensional canvas into three-dimensional with his floating forms. If one analyses this further, his work also describes the problematic time-space relation, time being the fourth dimension!

“Time does not move one-directionally but rather like cross-ing waves, in many directions at one time,” says Susiluoto in one of his poems. The critic Mika Suvioja has analyzed Susiluoto’s work well: “In his work there exist simultaneously perfect and disintegrated forms as well as multileveled reflections that con-form to the dictates of pictorial art form. Yet this entity is spiced with Susiluoto’s own sense of humour.”

Nature is an endless inspiration

Finland is not a country as cold as foreigners so often think. At least summers, although short, are quiet warm. And first of all, nature is full of colours with thousands of lakes, the sea and light nights of the summertime. There are many good sources for art-ists. When once asked what his favourite colour is, Susiluoto cunningly answered: “The colour of water. It has everything and it reflects everything.”

But naturally Susiluoto is no landscape artist. He just takes colours, certain details or atmospheres out of Finnish nature: the brown-green and orange-spiced fiesta of early spring, smells of soil and wet grass, the strong earth shades… Nature indeed is an endless inspiration for Susiluoto. An example is his “Cross and a Stone”. And a work titled “Virgin Celebration of Light - Midsum-mer Day” needs no further explanation.

Japanese woodcuts and Egypt

In addition to Finnish nature, Susiluoto has been influenced by Japanese art and Orient art in general. The woodcuts of Hokusai and Hiroshige – the two most prominent Japanese traditional artists – have been a source of inspiration for him as the two have been to Gaugain and van Gogh. Susiluoto is lucky to have Hiroshige’s woodcuts in his childhood home (his father was a

teacher and art collector). The poem translated on these pages derives its idea from Hiroshige, but in the real spirit of Susiluo-to, he transforms a quite realistic picture into poetic lines that carry hidden meanings with power of an extra tension. Yet it has something humble in its tone.

In 1964, Susiluoto visited Hokusai’s big exhibition in Copen-hagen. He was impressed by Hokusai’s technique and the way of depicting people in a humorous, even grotesque and erotic tone. But Susiluoto has also been influenced by Far Eastern calligra-phy, as seen in the painting “Far Eastern Red”. Red can also refer to politics, the colour of a left-wing approach. Although a leftist, Susiluoto is in some cases quite critical towards the Soviet Un-ion. He foresaw the rise of the Communist China.

The trip to Egypt in the 1980s is also important to his artistic career, and it resulted in “Egyptian series”, for example, the ab-stract painting “Egyptian Blues” seen on these pages. Instead of depicting Egyptian symbols, Susiluoto chose to analyse different tones of blue he saw in Egypt.

Among the Finnish artists, one of the most influential one is Sam Vanni (Besprosvanni), Susiluoto’s teacher at the Arts Acad-emy.

Desire and Imagination

As stated before, Ahti Susiluoto cannot be classified by isms or even great names (although he respects these great names, he likes to play with their traditions). In a broad way, Susiluoto is a

Meredith And Specter

culture & design


surrealist, a surrealist in the way how Mexican Nobel prize win-ning author Octavio Paz understands this important ism. For Octavio Paz, surrealism is not a trend or a way to create night-mare-like pictures or dream images in general. It is a spiritual attitude, a way of finding your inner energy:

“These forces – perhaps even stronger than our proud sci-ences – live within all of us. They are not hidden treasures but instead a mystical force that can change a dewdrop into a dia-mond and diamond into natural state of being and are by name: Desire and Imagination.”

Egyptian Blues

Dance for the Black Sun

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Girl Of Evil Anatomy

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CV in a nutshell:

Ahti Susiluoto, born on 20.2.1940 in Lohja, Southern Finland. An artist, poet and critic.Education: Finnish Arts Academy (1958-1962).Has taken part in group and private exhibitions since 1972. Private shows in Helsinki:Bronda Gallery 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989; Artegrafica Gallery 1996, 1998.Gallerie AE 1984, Göteborg, Sweden. Stockholm Art Fair 1982, 1983.Oulu Art Museum 1979.

Has worked in Art Museum of Finland, Helsinki City Art Museum, Oulu City Art Museum, Museum for Arts and Crafts, Art Museum of Sweden, Nordea Bank, Sampo Bank etc..

Has written for various Finnish newspapers between 1960-1983 (hundreds of articles about art, architecture and literature). Has also made illustrations for many books including “St. John Gospel” and many legal text books. Lives and works in Lohja, his childhood home-town, where he returned in 1998.

Bridge in Hiroshige’s woodcut:the most accurate twist of bast,Bracketed ropes in the slashof air, mountains and water.A complex curving out of mistlike a cricket Queen, mantis.

Builders were hardly thinking of cricketson the leafy groove of sharpened boughs(or of pitfalls?)

The exchanged their skillsfor rice in a bowl.And having the bridge tensioned,they left for other counties.carrying the same pieces of rags,they wore when arriving.

(Ahti Susiluoto’s poem ”Hiroshige’s Bridge”)

Far Eastern Red

Documents

Business Finland 2/2011