New weekly cargo route is both fast and environmentally friendly

Port of Jakobstad www.portofpietarsaari.fi, www.euroports.fi Main areas: Pulp, sawn timber, pulp wood, biofuels, coal, cement, chemicals, containers and trailers Channel depth: 11 metres Total quay length: 950 metres Volume 2019: 1.5 million tonnes Open: All year Port authority: Port of Pietarsaari Ltd Managing Director: Juha Hakala, juha.hakala@portofpietarsaari.fi Port operator: Euroports Pietarsaari Oy Operations Director: Pauli Rautiainen, pauli.rautiainen@euroports.fi

FOR THE PAST four years, traffic has annually grown by 10% in the Port of Jakobstad. Deepening the shipping channel to 11 metres has led to larger ships visiting the port, and now, with a new European cargo route and flourishing regional industry, also the future looks equally promising.

“In the beginning of 2019, shipping company Wallenius Sol introduced a ro-ro ship route, which leaves every Saturday morning from Jakobstad to Lübeck, Zeebrugge and Tilbury. We are thelast stop of the route, so the ship is in Germany already on Monday”, says Pauli Rautiainen, Operations Director of Euroports, the port operator in Jakobstad.

THE NEW ROUTE enables regular container and trailer traffic and is also an opportunity for the local forest industry to ship sawn timber to the UK. While being fast, it is also environmentally friendly. In 2021, the route will be trafficked by two modern LNG-powered ships, which will cut the fuel consumption in half. Thanks to the LNG, sulphur emissions are also cut by as much as 98% and CO2 equivalents by 60%.

Pauli Rautiainen and Juha Hakala

THE INFRASTRUCTURE in the port is continuously developed to satisfy the growing demand for its operations. Earlier, investments have been made in storage facilities and now plans are made for a large, more efficient crane, as well as a 5G network to improve communications.

Environmental aspects are important for the Port of Jakobstad and many investments are done with sustainability in mind. One example is the ongoing renewal of all port lights to LED lamps. Another ongoing investment is creating a so-called ‘digital twin’ of the port, which renders everything in the port in 3D: the dock, the buildings, the machines and the equipment.

“The digital twin will be taken into use in 2020. It will help us in maintenance, parking ships and planning future traffic arrangements, but it will also enable us and the port operator to makeuse of different digital applications”, explains Juha Hakala, Managing Director of the Port of Jakobstad.

Port of Jakobstad www.portofpietarsaari.fi, www.euroports.fi Main areas: Pulp, sawn timber, pulp wood, biofuels, coal, cement, chemicals, containers and trailers Channel depth: 11 metres Total quay length: 950 metres Volume 2019: 1.5 million tonnes Open: All year Port authority: Port of Pietarsaari Ltd Managing Director: Juha Hakala, juha.hakala@portofpietarsaari.fi Port operator: Euroports Pietarsaari Oy Operations Director: Pauli Rautiainen, pauli.rautiainen@euroports.fi