Volumes decline at Port of Helsinki

The volume of unitised goods declined by 3% and that of rubber-wheeled cargo by 6%. The number of containers transported was 420,000 teu, while the number of trucks and trailers totalled 518,000. Passenger traffic picked up again in 2008, particularly between Helsinki and Tallinn, with the launch of three new large shuttle ships. The total number of passengers reached 8.9m, up 4.6% from 2007, while international cruise ship traffic during the summer grew by 30%, to 360,000 passengers.

In the meantime, Finnlines has added capacity on its routes from Finland to Germany and Russia. On February 13 it added a fourth Star-class vessel, MS Nordlink, to the Germany route, while a smaller Hansa-class vessel, MS Transeuropa, was transferred to the Lübeck-St. Petersburg route.

Finnlines is also starting a new weekly service to Immingham in the UK. The first departure from Helsinki will be on February 28 and the first call at Immingham’s DFDS Nordic Terminal (DNT) on March 3.