A Helsinki Port Delegation Visited the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg
08 August 2019
On August 8, 2019, a Helsinki Port delegation represented by Ville Haapasaari, Director General, and Sari Nevanlinna, Deputy Director General for Passenger Services, paid a business visit to the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg. The visit took place at the invitation of the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg’s directors at the meeting held as part of the Seatrade Global international exhibition in April this year in Miami, USA.
The official meeting was devoted to discussing current issues and prospects for cooperation between the Port of Helsinki and the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg to jointly promote the development of cruise and ferry tourism on the Baltic Sea.
Vadim Kashirin, Director General of PP of SPb MF, PLC, told about the port development investment projects, including infrastructural ones: reconstruction of the checkpoint as part of “South-East Finland – Russia Cross Border Cooperation Program 2014-2020”; construction of off-shore mooring posts, and construction of a sports center. In addition, the directors of PP of SPb MF, PLC, announced their plans to establish a marine passenger shipping company in Saint Petersburg and to organize regular ferry service on the Baltic Sea from Saint Petersburg.
The directors of the Port of Helsinki told about the Port infrastructure opportunities, its operational activities for reception and service of cargo and passenger ships, and about their future projects.
Among the main areas of cooperation, they mentioned developing the attractiveness of cruise and ferry tourism in the region. The Ports intend to create the most comfortable conditions for receiving and servicing cruise liners and to develop the port infrastructure in line with the current trends in the cruise industry, to improve the quality of services and to expand the list thereof. The parties discussed the prospects for bunkering LNG vessels and providing an onshore connection to the power supply.
At the end of the meeting, the parties outlined their next joint initiatives, including the issues of visa facilitation for citizens of the Russian Federation. They also agreed upon information exchange and joint participation in events aimed at developing the tourism potential of the cities. The parties expressed their confidence that their cooperation will further increase the interest of tourists in the Baltic Region, whereas launching the ferry services from Saint Petersburg will significantly increase the tourist flow to both Helsinki and Saint Petersburg.
The Port of Helsinki invited the directors of the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg to visit the capital of Finland and to get acquainted with the Port infrastructure and work experience.
The delegation of the Port of Helsinki arrived in Saint Petersburg on the board of the MOBY SPL Princess Anastasia ferry to the Sea Station (1 Morskoy Slavy Square). Upon arrival to the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg, the delegation was told about the history of the Port and the adjacent alluvial territory; they could also see the transport infrastructure and other facilities.
Helsinki is the largest port of Finland, which provides freight and passenger transport services to large ports in the Northern, Central, and Western Europe. The Port of Helsinki is a hub for trade and transport services between Finland and Estonia (Tallinn), Sweden (Stockholm), Germany (Rostock and Travemünde), and Poland (Gdansk); there is a system of freight water transport services between Finland (Helsinki) and Russia (Moscow, Saint Petersburg) as well as other CIS countries.
