Spanking New Vuosaari Port Services First Vessels
The Vuosaari port in Helsinki opened on Monday.
Image: YLE
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Helsinki's cargo port operations have been relocated to Vuosaari in the east of the city. The transition to the country's newest and largest port took place over the weekend, and the new harbour opened for operations early Monday morning, with the first vessels leaving the port amid the flurry of a winter blizzard.
The relocation of operations from the western harbour and Sompasaari to Vuosaari will help reduce heavy good traffic in the city centre and will also free up land for housing construction.
The new port at Vuosaari will accommodate the loading of very large cargo items. The Olof crane which helped load vessels at Helsinki's western harbour swung into action in the wee hours of the morning, having been transported to its new home in one piece by water. Other equipment has been transferred from the western harbour and from the port at Sörnäinen.
With personnel, machinery and equipment all in place, all that remains to be seen is how easily operations can be launched. Apart from the physical challenges of relocating port operations, officials say that they have had to work against the mindset of some not in favour of the big change.
The commissioning of the harbour comes during difficult times. Ports across Finland have been feeling the impact of the global economic slowdown. In September goods traffic decreased by five percent, with the decline accelerating in recent weeks.
The reduced demand for port services may heighten competition among Finland's ports --this means that ports at Kotka and Helsinki will be vying more fiercely for harbour business.
The Vuosaari port was six years in the making, and cost nearly 700 million euros. Although fully functional, the port will be officially commissioned next Friday.
YLE