The Port of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin Satama, sv, Helsingfors Hamn) is one of the busiest passenger

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

s in Europe and the main port for foreign trade in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. For passenger traffic, the port operates regular liner connections to destinations such as Tallinn,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes ...

, serving a total volume of 11.6 million passengers in 2018. Additionally, it is a popular destination for international

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s with 520,000 passenger arrivals in 2018. As Finland's leading cargo port, a total of 14.7 million tonnes of goods were transported in 2018. The main export commodities are products for the forest industry, machinery and equipment, whereas in imports the most prominent product group are daily consumer goods. In 2017, the Port of Helsinki acquired a majority stake in the Port of Loviisa, situated some east of Helsinki. The port is owned by the city of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and operated by ''Port of Helsinki Ltd''. The current port traffic volumes and urban population categorize Helsinki as a Large-Port City

Harbours

The Port of Helsinki consists of three active harbours.

South Harbour

The South Harbour ( fi, Eteläsatama, sv, Södra hamnen) is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

and harbour area immediately next to the centre of the city of Helsinki.

Silja Line Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company Tallink, AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja osakeyhtiö, O ...

operates from the

Olympia Terminal The Olympia Terminal ( fi, Olympiaterminaali, sv, Olympiaterminalen) is a dock in the South Harbour of Helsinki, Finland. It was designed by the Hytönen- Luukkonen architects bureau and opened for the 1952 Summer Olympics. Today, the termina ...

on the west side of the bay, whereas Viking Line operates from the

Katajanokka Terminal Katajanokka Terminal ( fi, Katajanokan terminaali, sv, Skatuddens terminal) is a ferry terminal located in Katajanokka, in the Southern Harbor of Helsinki, Finland. The shipping company Viking Line operates scheduled services from the termi ...

on the east side of the bay. Silja Line and Viking Line each operate one ferry to

via

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in ...

per day, and Viking Line also has multiple departures to Tallinn every day. Silja Line's MS Silja Serenade and MS Silja Symphony depart on alternate days to Stockholm Värtahamnen (via

), Viking Line's MS Gabriella departs every second day to Stockholm Stadsgården (via

) and MS Viking XPRS has multiple departures to Tallinn Terminal A every day. The Makasiini Terminal is also located on the west side of the bay but has been closed since the only regular operator, Linda Line, went bankrupt in 2017.

West Harbour

The West Harbour ( fi, Länsisatama, sv, Västra hamnen) is a passenger and cargo harbour in the

Jätkäsaari Jätkäsaari (; sv, Busholmen) is a peninsula and a quarter in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It is part to the Kampinmalmi district and Länsisatama neighbourhood. It was the location of the main container harbour in Helsinki until late ...

district of Helsinki. The harbour features two terminals: the older Terminal 1, and the newer Terminal 2 (completed in 2017).

St Peter Line St. Peter Line is water transport company owned by Moby SPL Limited, a Maltese-registered shipping company, which operated services from Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Tallinn. The company was founded in 2010 with it starting operations ...

’s cruise service to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with MS Princess Anastasia operated from Terminal 1. Tallink’s shuttle ferries MS MyStar,

MS Megastar MS ''Megastar'' is a fast ro-ro/passenger (ro-pax) ferry built by the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, for the Estonian shipping company Tallink. The 230 million euro vessel is the first ship in Tallink's fleet to use liquefied natura ...

and

MS Star A number of motor ships have been named ''Star'', including: *, originally ''Merzario Hispania'' and later MS ''Nordic Ferry'', a car ferry *, a Ro-Pax ferry operated by the Estonian ferry company Tallink {{DEFAULTSORT:Star, MS Ship names ...

to Tallinn Terminal D as well as

Eckerö Line Eckerö Line is a Finnish shipping company owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates one ferry between Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). Eckerö Line should not be confused with the similarly named ...

’s shuttle ferry MS Finlandia to Tallinn Terminal A operate from Terminal 2. The West Harbour area also includes the Munkkisaari Quay on the west side of neighbouring

Munkkisaari Hernesaari (; sv, Ärtholmen; until 2013 known as Munkkisaari / ''Munkholmen'')Vuosaari Harbour Vuosaari Harbour (''Vuosaaren satama'' in Finnish; ''Nordsjö hamn'' in Swedish) is a seaport facility in Helsinki, Finland, opened in November 2008. It is also the 19th tallest building in Finland. Pillu Kolehmainen is the most famous stevedorer ...

( fi, Vuosaaren satama, sv, Nordsjö hamn) is located in the suburb of

Vuosaari Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...

and was opened in November 2008. It replaced the ''North Harbour'' and ''Laajasalo Oil Harbour'' and serves primarily container and

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

traffic. The majority of passenger services operate from the other two harbours in Central Helsinki with the exception of Finnlines’ daily service to

MS Finnstar The ''Star'' class is a class of five Ro-pax ferries built by Fincantieri, Italy at their Castellammare di Stabia and Ancona shipyards for Finnlines. They are used on Finnlines' routes connecting Finland to Germany and Sweden to Germany. Most sh ...

, MS Finnmaid and MS Finnlady. Passengers on this ferry service check in at the Hansa Terminal and are transport to the ship by bus.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Economy of Helsinki Companies based in Helsinki

Water transport in Finland