Helsinki (Finland)

Port Helsinki is a Baltic Sea cruise port and Finland's largest cargo port. The city is country's capital (since 1812) and also Europe's northernmost capital city, located on Gulf of Finland's shores. Russia (St Peterburg) is approx 300 km (185 mi) to the west. City's population is around 650,000 (metro over 1,45 million), ranking it Nordic countries' 3rd largest metro area - after Stockholm Sweden and Copenhagen Denmark.

In Greater Helsinki (metro) are headquartered 83 of Finland's 100 largest companies. City's tap water is supplied via Paijanne Water Tunnel, which by length (120 km / 75 mi) is ranked among the world's longest rock tunnels. City's tap water is of such good quality, that is even sold (bottled) in other countries.

City's best-known tourist attractions are its numerous museums, including Finland's National Museum (haused in a medieval castle), City Museum, Helsinki University Museum, Finnish Museum of Natural History, Finnish National Gallery (houses 3 art museums), Design Museum (Finnish and international designs - industrial, fashion, graphics), Military Museum, Tram Museum. Ateneum Palace is among city's main historical buildings.

The city is served by the International Helsinki Airport in Vantaa - approx 17 km (11 mi) to the north. Helsinki-Malmi Airport serves mainly domestic flights and private airplanes. Hernesaari Heliport serves charter flights.

Port Helsinki

Port Helsinki is Europe's 2nd busiest passenger port - after Southampton England UK - handling around 11 million passengers (cruise and ferry) annually. In 2018, the seaport was ranked Europe's busiest in terms of passenger shipping volumes - handling in 2017 over 12,3 million passengers.

Vuosaari Harbour was opened in 2008. It handles only goods-shipping traffic for Greater Helsinki (metro region). This port section has 2 container terminals (West Harbour, Sornainen Harbour). The harbor covers a land area of 1,5 km2 (0,6 mi2) with additional 0,75 lm2 (0,3 mi2) business park adjacent to the harbor. City's "Ring 3" road network was extended and a new railway is now used for cargo transportation to and from Vuosaari Harbour.

West Harbour (Lansisatama, in Jatkasaari district) has 1 passenger and 1 cargo terminal. This port area includes Munkkisaari (cruise ships dedicated) pier. West Terminal (ferry terminal) serves mainly ferries to Estonia (Tallinn) and Russia (Petersburg). Most of the cruiseferries are operated by the companies ECKERO LINE and TALLINK-SILJA LINE (Estonian route) and St Peter Line (Russian route). Port's developments here included the building a residential complex for around 15,000 inhabitants. The land for this project is a former container traffic area (moved to Vuosaari). Helsinki Shipyard (in Hietalahti district) is adjacent to West Harbour but not considered part of the port.

Port's Olympia Terminal building (next to Port Authority company's headquarters) is listed as heritage site. Jatkasaari (part of Lansisatama and Kampinmalmi) is a new residential and office area developed at the site of port's ex-main container terminal (moved in 2008 to Vuosaari Harbour).

Cruise port's 2014 statistics showed a total of 240 ship calls and 408,900 passengers handled. In 2015 were handled 254 ship calls and 436,500 passengers. The most visited from Helsinki cruise port destinations are St Petersburg Russia, Gdynia-Gdansk Poland, Tallinn Estonia, Travemunde-Lubeck Germany, Stockholm Sweden and Warnemunde-Rostock (Germany).

In 2016, Port Helsinki handled 11,56 million ferry passengers (3,1% increase over 2015). Of those, 8,74 million (4%) were traveling between Helsinki and Tallinn (almost 76% of all) and 2,34 million (0,7%) traveled on cruiseferries on the Helsinki-Stockholm route. The number of cruise ship tourists visiting the port in 2016 was 408,900 (6.3% decrease over 2015). In 2017, the ferry passenger traffic on the Helsinki-Tallinn route was increased. The ferry traffic to Sweden (Stockholm), Russia (St Petersburg) and Germany (Travemunde) remained stable. The international cruise shipping traffic increased to nearly 0,5 million.

In 2017, the total ship passengers increased by 2,4% (over 2016). The number of liner passenger traffic grew by 1,8%, (up to 11,8 million). Of those, 9 million (+3,2%) crossed on the Helsinki-Tallinn route, and 2,3 million on the Helsinki-Stockholm route. For season 2017, the cruise port had scheduled 270 ship calls (handled 266 total) with over 478,000 passengers (16,8% increase over 2016). A special day was May 31, when here met 5 cruise vessels (AIDAmar, Le Soleal, MSC Magnifica, Norwegian Getaway, Ocean Dream) disembarking over 11,000 tourists in total.

Among the seaport's main innovations implemented during its redevelopments in the last few years include:

• Buffer zones at Vuosaari Harbour protect its existing "Natura 2000" natural reserve areas. These are green parks that buffer Vuosaari's housing developments and harbour areas. A new golf course was also created there.
• New lighting scheme was developed and sound barriers were built. The sound wall is also the port's facade to the natural reserve. It reduces sound pollution from the harbor, integrates vegetation and also has a sightseen function.
• An efficient automatic vehicle check-in system was installed (for trucks and cars) with waiting areas constructed outside the urban area (some are in the buffer zones). The new system allows ferry cargo traffic to be handled with less waiting times and areas required.

In 2017, Port Helsinki achieved record-breaking results in international freight traffic, with handled total tonnage/throughput 14,3 million tons (14,3% increase). Of those, 7,3 million were imports (13,2% increase) and 6,9 million exports (14,6% increase). The freight volume shipped in large-sized units was 11,89 million tons (12,5% increase). The container ship traffic volume was 491,000 TEU-containers (8,8% increase). The rubber-wheel traffic was 587,000 units (11,1% increase). In 2017, the cruise port handled 266 ship calls and nearly 478,000 passengers. During calls, cruise tourists spend an average EUR 64 per day visit (totaling ~EUR 32 million in FY2017).

The port's container terminals are managed (under long-term concession) by APM Terminals (30,75%, part of Global Ports Holding - the world's largest cruise port operator) and Delo Group (30,75%, Russia's biggest freight transportation and logistics company). These terminals are a joint venture of Global Ports (75%) and CMA Terminals Holding (25%, part of CMA CMG - the 3rd of the world's largest container shipping companies).

In September 2020, the old crane at Multi-Link Terminals Helsinki was replaced with a new STS (ship-to-shore gantry crane custom-designed by Konecranes) that measures 40 m (boom length), 31 m (height) and has lifting capacity 70 tonnes. Multi-Link Terminal is also served by a modern RMG (Rail Mounted Gantry crane) which expedites the vessel handling process and reduces operating costs (via reduced personnel and equipment required). The new RMG has capacity to handle boxships with 14 TEU wide decks. In October 2020, the existing Liebherr crane was upgraded to 26,5 m (height) and 32,5 m (boom length).

In October 2018, the seaports Helsinki and Tallinn, together with the ferry companies Tallink, Viking Line and Eckero Line, received EUR 21,4 million as EU funding for passenger terminal and infrastructure developments as part of a TWIN-PORT project with total budget EUR 71,2 million and completed in 2023. By this project, Port Helsinki's West Harbour improved its transportation system to reduce congestion, noise and air pollution. At Port Tallinn's Old City Harbour was installed auto-mooring and shoreside power systems. The ferry port also constructed sewerages (at all passenger ship quays) to expand its wastewater service. The ferry companies retrofitted their Ro-Pax vessels to be able to shut down their auxiliary engines while docked, resulting in quiet operations and zero pollution at berths.

In May 2019, the Finnish company Damen Shipyards Group established its office in Helsinki. The company entered the passenger shipbuilding market (RoPax/ferry and cruise vessels) with the purchase of Damen Shipyards Mangalia (joint venture between Damen and Romania's Government). In Romani are constructed and launched ships' hulls and superstructures then tugged to other European yards (in France, Netherlands, Poland, Finland) for final outfitting. Damen's engineering teams are in Rotterdam Holland and Gdansk Poland. The company "Damen Engineering Helsinki Oy Ltd" has ~30 employees. Damen's new office is intended to showcase the company's products and services to both potential clients and local suppliers.

In June 2019, Elenger (2019-established brand/trademark/subsidiary of Eesti Gaas Group (Tallinn-headquartered Estonian natural gas company) started LNG bunkering in Port Helsinki. The first passenger ship bunkered by Elenger Finland was the cruiseferry Tallink Megastar (serving the route Helsinki-Tallinn). Ferry's truck-to-ship bunkering (by semi-trailers) is once a week (on Tuesdays) and takes approx 1 hour. Elenger delivers LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Helsinki from Novatek's new LNG plant in Vysotsk (Russia). Eesti Gaas runs Estonia's largest gas supply network and also serves the markets in Finland and Lithuania through pipelines. The company also sells electricity.

Helsinki Shipyard

This Finnish shipbuilding company "Arctech Helsinki Shipyard" was founded in 2011 as а subsidiary of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) - a Russian state-owned company specializing in the construction and repairs of icebreakers and other icebreaking vessels, including gas tankers, platform supply- and standby ships.

Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is located in Hietalahti (downtown Helsinki). The company was established as joint venture between STX Finland and USC Russia. Operations at Hietalahti Shipyard started in April 2011 In 2014, USC Russia purchased the STX Finland shares (from its parent company STX Europe) and became the shipyard's sole owner.

In October 2018, USC announced that Hietalahti Shipyard would be sold to Algador Holdings Ltd. The sale was authorized by Russia's Government in April 2019. In May 2019, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard was sold to Algador Holdings Ltd - a Russian company owned by Rishat Bagautdinov and Vladimir Kasyanenko (owners of Vodohod River Cruises). The company also owns Nevsky Shipyard LLC (1913-founded, located on Neva River in Schliesselburg, ~40 km to the north of Sankt Petersburg).

On May 20, 2019, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard was transferred to the newly-established company "Helsinki Shipyard Oy" that took over Hietalahti Shipyard's assets and operations. Arctech remained a subsidiary of USC Russia and continued its operations in Russia (at Nevsky Shipyard). The deal included EUR 35 million plus the ownership of Nevsky Shipyard LLC.

The list of ships built by Helsinki Shipyard (Hietalahti) includes:

• icebreakers - Baltika (2014), Murmansk (2015), Polaris (2016)
• oil-gas platform supply vessels - Vitus Bering (2012), Aleksey Chirikov (2013), Gennadiy Nevelskoy (2017)
• standby vessels - Stepan Makarov (2017), Fedor Ushakov (2017), Yevgeny Primakov (2018)
• cruise ships - Vodohod TBN1 (2021 August), Vodohod TBN2 (2022 January)

Helsinki Shipyard has a covered dock with capacity to build Panamax-sized ships (able to pass through Panama Canal).

Finland's other two major shipbuilding yards are in Turku and Rauma.

In March 2023, Davie Shipbuilding (1825-founded, headquartered in Lauzon, Quebec Canada; a subsidiary of Chantier Davie Canada Inc) exercised an exclusive purchase option for the shipyard's assets. In April, the Canadian company signed a purchase agreement. for the Helsinki Shipyard and also a 50-year land lease deal with the city.

On November 3, 2023, Davie Shipbuilding announced the official acquisition of the Helsinki Shipyard Oy's assets from Algador Holdings. The deal was signed by James Davies (Davie Shipbuilding's CEO and President) and Kim Salmi (Helsinki Shipyard's Managing Director). The acquisition was supported by Québec's government with EUR 77 million (USD 110M), of which EUR 30M/US$43M equity investment and EUR 47M/US$67M loan.

Helsinki cruise terminal

Helsinki tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

• The Botanical Garden: Botaniska trädgården will offer you amazing time in its gardens.
• The House of Parliament: or Eduskuntatalo.
• The new opera house: or Finnish National Opera’s Oopperatalo dates from 1993. It is located in Töölö.
• Heureka: the science center is located in Vantaa and features different exhibitions and IMAX.
• Sandudd (Hietaniemi): one of the top-rated beaches in Helsinki. It is near the downtown city.
• Helsinki Olympic Stadium: located at the junction of Mannerheimintie with Helsinginkatu, beyond the the old Trade Fair Hall. You can visit also the Finnish Sport Museum. The statue in front of the entrance is Paavo Nurmi’s, famous runner.
• Linnanmäki Amusement Park: located at Tivolikuja 1, east of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The park offers giant wheel, water tower and more. It dates from 1950 but it was continually upgraded and improved.
• House of Culture: located at Sturenkatu 4. Its designer is Alvar Aalto. There is a small Lenin park behind.
• Alvar Aalto Museum Gallery
• Temppeliaukio Church (Lutheran church in the city's Toolo neighborhood)
• Sibelius Monument - dedicated to the composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
• The National Museum of Finland
• Seurasaari Open-Air Museum