harbour
A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
in the
Jätkäsaari
Jätkäsaari (; ) is a peninsula and a Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, quarter in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It is part to the Kampinmalmi district and Länsisatama neighbourhood. It was the site of the main container port in ...
district of
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, in the southwestern part of the Helsinginniemi peninsula. The Länsisatama harbour area also includes the Munkkisaaren laituri pier on the west side of
Munkkisaari
Hernesaari (; ; until 2013 known as Munkkisaari / ''Munkholmen'')Port of Helsinki
The Port of Helsinki (, ) is one of the busiest passenger ports in Europe and the main port for foreign trade in Finland.
For passenger traffic, the port operates regular liner connections to destinations such as Tallinn, Stockholm, Saint Peters ...
.
The West Harbour is one of the two passenger harbours in the central part of the city of Helsinki: the South Harbour around the
Market Square
A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...
is also used for passenger traffic.
The West Harbour has two passenger terminals: West Terminal 1 (, ) and West Terminal 2, which opened in February 2017. West Terminal 1 is used mainly by passenger ships from Helsinki to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
. West Terminal 2 is specialised in fast scheduled traffic to
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
. As of 2024,
Tallink
Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It ...
and
Eckerö Line
Eckerö Line is a Finland, Finnish shipping companies, shipping company owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates two ferries between Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). Eckerö Line should not be confuse ...
operate routes to
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
.
The West Terminal 1 will be demolished and replaced with a new passenger terminal with construction beginning in 2025 and planned to end in 2028. After the new terminal is completed, the West Harbour will have five places for ships to dock.
The passenger terminals are served by Helsinki tram lines 7 and 9.
The construction of a new residential area in Jätkäsaari continues , using land freed up after the container traffic in West Harbour was moved to Vuosaari Harbour in 2008.
Immediately next to West Harbour, in the
Munkkisaari
Hernesaari (; ; until 2013 known as Munkkisaari / ''Munkholmen'')Helsinki shipyard in Hietalahti. However, it is not counted as part of the harbour area of Länsisatama.
Länsisatama is also the name of a
subdivision
Subdivision may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Subdivision (metre), in music
* ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009
* "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2)
* ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005
* "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...
of Helsinki, which encompasses a larger area than the harbour alone.
The harbour area also includes the area of
The harbour is used by around 7 million passengers per year in regular ferry traffic and by about 400 thousand passengers of international cruise ships. The traffic also includes about 1.3 million vehicles per year. Especially heavy-duty cargo traffic in Jätkäsaari is so significant that there are plans to move it underground. The
City Council of Helsinki
The City Council of Helsinki ( , ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport.
The 85-seat Council's members ...
has approved a plan to construct a harbour tunnel from Jätkäsaari to the
Länsiväylä
Länsiväylä (the Western Highway, Swedish: Västerleden) is a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsink ...
highway. In addition, the current pier structure will be expanded and a new field area will be constructed at the southern tip of the harbour area.
The West Harbour employs over 800 people.
Helsingin Sanomat
, abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
'' 7 April 1990. Accessed on 2 April 2021. It was born in 1911 when the city council granted money for levelling the area.Bysa ja Sandis ja Uttern – sittemmin Jätkäsaari ''Uutta Helsinkiä'' 11 September 2017. Accessed on 26 August 2021. In the next year, Hietasaari and Jätkäsaari were connected to the mainland by a causeway. The
zoning
In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
plan was approved and construction started in 1913.Erävuori, Jukka: ''Helsingin sataman ja satamahallinnon historia'', pp. 77–79. City of Helsinki, 1981. The total sum granted for the construction was over two million
Finnish markka
The markka (; ; currency symbol, sign: mk; ISO 4217, ISO code: FIM), also known as the Finnish mark, was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The markka was divided into 100 penny, pennies ...
. The plan was based on city engineer
Gabriel Idström
In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...
's statement that the capacity of the South Harbour would not be enough in the future to support marine traffic and trade.
The islands of Hietasaari and Saukko were annexed to the Jätkäsaari harbour area by levelling them and filling the area of sea between them. The seabed was dredged for the use of large ocean ships. In 1916 the area was connected to the Finnish main track line with the
Helsinki harbour rail
The Helsinki harbour rail line () was a side rail track in Helsinki, Finland, built in the 1890s, and dismantled in 2009. Originally it led from the Helsinki Central railway station, via the city's coastline, to Katajanokka. Its original length w ...
going through
Kamppi
Kamppi () is a Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, neighbourhood in the centre of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name originally referred to a small area known as the "Kamppi field" (see below), but according to the current official d ...
. The harbour expanded fast during the boom in the 1920s and the name Jätkäsaari was established for the whole harbour area in 1928. The land fillings and the construction of the West Harbour were a solution to the capacity problem, as the Hietalahti harbour next to it built in the 19th century was running out of space.
In the 1930s the harbour area was divided into two parts: the Hietalahti harbour reserved for ocean liners and the Saukko harbour reserved for traffic of coal cargo, opened in 1925. Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the area was developing into the largest harbour in Helsinki. The war interrupted this development, and the record numbers in the 1930s could only be reached again in 1955. In the 1950s the West Harbour was mainly converted into a goods traffic harbour, as traffic of coal cargo was moved to Hanasaari. In terms of traffic, the harbour was the largest in Helsinki since the 1960s, and its expansion continued in the 1970s. At the same time, the
Sörnäinen Harbour
Sörnäinen Harbour ( Finnish: ''Sörnäisten satama'', Swedish: ''Sörnäs hamn'') was for nearly one and a half centuries a major harbour and freight terminal in the Port of Helsinki, located in the Sörnäinen district on the eastern shore of ...
on the other side of the central area of the city was being expanded, with the sea being filled and islands being connected around it.
In November 2008 the functionality of the container harbour was moved to the new Vuosaari Harbour, and the harbour track was dismantled. This cleared space in Jätkäsaari for thousands of new apartments.Toivio, Tuulo Länsisataman ruuhkia ratkotaan ''
Metro
Metro may refer to:
Geography
* Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
'' 30 August 2013, 15th year, issue #158, p. 4. Accessed on 30 August 2013.