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Fi n n l i n e s<br />
Helsinki new port<br />
is fully operational<br />
Finnlines services relocated while subsidiary Finnsteve<br />
is the main port operator<br />
Since 24 November 2008, Helsinki’<br />
Sompasaari has been virtually<br />
closed to commercial traffic<br />
and the newly built port of Vuosaari,<br />
some 20 km away has become Helsinki’s<br />
only commercial port and Finland’s main<br />
seaport. Through Finnsteve, the port<br />
handling company it owns, Finnlines has<br />
played a major role in making Vuosaari<br />
wholly operational. Finnlines (a company<br />
controlled by the <strong>Grimaldi</strong> Group) is also<br />
one of the main users of Vuosaari for both<br />
cargo and passenger traffic. The first<br />
Finnlines’ ship to operate there was the<br />
Finnstar, that glided into the brand new<br />
port in a snow storm. The conditions and<br />
facilities for Finnlines operations in the<br />
Port of Vuosaari are excellent. The port<br />
area has been designed to function as<br />
efficiently as possible. The consolidation<br />
of all operations in Helsinki to one port<br />
increases efficiency. The Port of Vuosaari<br />
will therefore create new opportunities<br />
and far more effective transport solutions<br />
for all of Finland, as well as for transit traffic<br />
to and from Russia.<br />
Subsidiary Finnsteve is the operator of<br />
both Ro/Ro and Container terminals. In<br />
Vuosaari Harbour it operates a ro/ro multipurpose<br />
terminal providing berthing<br />
space for up to 10 ships simultaneously.<br />
In particular, the container terminal area<br />
can accommodate up to 5,000 TEU and is<br />
equipped with four STS container cranes<br />
and 20 straddle carriers. It has also 184<br />
ground level reefer slots and a storage<br />
area for hazardous cargo.<br />
As for the Ro/Ro terminal, it features two<br />
twin-level ramps to speed-up loading<br />
and unloading operations on the newest<br />
Finnlines’ ships and 8 one-level ramps.<br />
It features over 1,000 slots for semitrailers<br />
and 30 reefer slots for trailers as well<br />
as a storage area for hazardous cargo<br />
and one container crane. The port offers<br />
improved services for lorry traffic<br />
too. It is in fact directly connected to the<br />
motorway network while the port’s gate<br />
area provides parking and waiting areas<br />
for 150 lorries, as well as several filling<br />
stations.<br />
Besides transporting cargo, Finnlines’ ropax<br />
vessels carry up to 500 passengers<br />
daily between Germany’s Travemünde<br />
and Helsinki. The new Hansa passenger<br />
traffic terminal in the Port of Vuosaari is<br />
more spacious and modern and can be<br />
reached by bus from the Vuosaari metro<br />
station.<br />
GNEWS13
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