The common goal of the City of Helsinki and the Port of Helsinki is to strengthen the operating conditions of the port, which is important to all of Finland, to make the South Harbour area available for more meaningful use for residents and to improve the flow of traffic in southern Helsinki.

The Development Programme for Port of Helsinki concentrates ship traffic to Tallinn to the West Harbour and traffic to Stockholm to Katajanokka. The Tallinn route is by far the busiest route of the Port of Helsinki, and focusing the traffic in one place will lead to an increase in traffic volumes. This requires the construction of a harbour tunnel from West Harbour to Länsiväylä.

Port of Helsinki is home port to all of Finland

In terms of passenger numbers, the Port of Helsinki is Finland’s largest passenger port by a clear margin and one of Europe’s busiest international passenger traffic ports. The impacts of a well-functioning port are visible in people’s everyday lives. Sea routes are vital to foreign trade, and the Port of Helsinki’s proportion of the total value of Finland’s foreign trade sea transports is nearly 50%.

The total economic impact of port activities in Helsinki is more than EUR 4 billion a year and they employ around 25,000 people indirectly. The Port of Helsinki also plays an enormous role in the security of supply of Finland as a whole.

Roughly 10 million tourists pass through harbours in Helsinki every year. Most of them are travelling to Tallinn. The smooth connection between Helsinki and Tallinn is important for Finnish trade and industry, as passenger traffic from one city centre to another is a special attraction factor for the Helsinki and Tallinn twin cities in competition between the metropolitan areas of the Baltic Sea. Tallinn is also the most important partner port for cargo traffic departing from Helsinki.

The business model combining passengers and cargo ensures efficient and regular ship routes from Helsinki

Passenger and cargo transport are combined on the same vessels in the Port of Helsinki. The concept guarantees regular and environmentally friendly ship traffic between Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm. The Port aims at ensuring that the current efficient passenger and cargo transport is also possible in the future and that ship passengers also have direct access to the centre of Helsinki in the future.