Action Port – The newsletter of Port of Kokkola 1/2024

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Almost 1,000 special transports depart from the port of Kokkola

Container transport for a new era

EDITORIAL

Towards the new T

he year 2023 was a difficult year for many businesses, including Port of Kokkola.

For us, the biggest change concerned the transit traffic over the eastern border, which will been gone for a very long time, and it remains to be seen whether it will ever return. We are now in a situation where the entire port community has to adjust and be ready to take on new flows of goods.

Although the situation is still challenging, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the year that has already started. On the next page, we tell you, for example, that starting in the spring, almost 1,000 project shipments of wind turbine components will leave the port of Kokkola for Finland’s largest onshore wind farm, under construction in Lestijärvi. When compared, the strength of Kokkola was, in particular, the port logistics investments required by wind turbines, which Port of Kokkola had made, as well as the staff’s solid experience and know-how of handling components.

Port of Kokkola Newsletter for customers and interested parties CHIEF EDITOR: Torbjörn Witting EDITORIAL STAFF: Jorma Uusitalo LAYOUT: Olli Ilmanen/Creamedia PRINTED IN: Waasa Graphics Oy PHOTOS: Jorma Uusitalo Clas-Olav Slotte Alexandra Haapala Kuljetusliike Ville Silvasti Oy COVER PHOTO: Almost 1,000 special transports of wind turbine components leave for Lestijärvi from the port of Kokkola.

Elsewhere in this magazine, you will also find more information on the interesting prospects of container traffic. We have had loyal container traffic customers for more than 10 years, and now we are going through a phase where we warmly welcome new customers as well. There is a lot of potential in container traffic, in particular thanks to the clean transition projects. Port of Kokkola made a significant investment in a robust container crane, and it is also essential to consider Rauanheimo’s important role as a container traffic operator in Kokkola. The Container Day organized in November was an excellent opening for deeper collaboration between container transport operators, and for the further development of container transport services in the port of Kokkola.

At the end of last year, Anssi Martinmäki started working for Kokkola Port as Commercial Manager. This is additional proof that at Port of Kokkola we firmly believe in the future and that together with our competent partners we can create new traffics and serve the needs of both exporters and importers in different types of goods.

With these thoughts, I wish the customers and partners of Port of Kokkola a very good and successful year 2024!

TORBJÖRN WITTING CEO Port of Kokkola Ltd.

PHOTO: WALC OY

Container handling capacity, on the other hand, will increase significantly thanks to the container crane acquired by Port of Kokkola.

PHOTO: CLAS -OLAV SLOTTE

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The wind turbines of Finland’s largest onshore wind farm through the port of Kokkola The power plant components of Finland’s largest onshore wind farm under construction in Lestijärvi pass through the port of Kokkola. It is also a giant project from the point of port logistics, because transporting the wind turbine components from the port of Kokkola to Lestijärvi requires about 1,000 project transports.

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ILLE SILVASTI, CEO of Kuljetusliike Ville Silvasti Oy says that port logistics, i.e. the unloading of wind turbine components from the ships and their storage in the port area, are handled jointly by Port of Kokkola and Kuljetusliike Ville Silvasti Oy, with Rauanheimo acting as Port of Kokkola’s partner. In addition, Silvasti transports the components to the wind farm in Lestijärvi.

– This is one of the most significant projects for us this year. The transports are planned to be carried out during 2024. The first components will arrive at the port of Kokkola in March, and the transports to the destination will start in the spring. In total, the project comprises about 1,000 special transports, Ville Silvasti continues.

According to him, the decisions regarding port logistics have been made in collaboration with the customer.

– Port of Kokkola’s good storage facilities, crane capacity and distance from the construction site especially influenced the decision. In order for everything to go as agreed, it requires close communication between us and the port of Kokkola, coordinating everything related to the project with other ship traffic and utilizing all the know-how and experience that Port of Kokkola has accumulated in port logistics of wind turbine components, says Ville Silvasti.

Torbjörn Witting, CEO of Port of Kokkola Ltd., is looking forward to the start of the collaboration. He states that the long-term development of port logistics for components of onshore wind farms is now bearing fruit.

– We are grateful for the trust that has been shown to us in this context. Silverstone Port, where the components of the wind turbines arrive, continues to expand into the sea. At the moment, we have about 15 hectares of continuous area at our disposal for processing and storing components. The quays of Silverstone Port has been extended to 440 meters after the completion of the newest, 120-meter-long section in 2021, and we have also invested in crane capacity. The new project transport route from the port to the main roads is also an essential part of efficient port logistics, Witting says about the investments made by Port of Kokkola.

The wind farm to be built in Lestijärvi comprises 69 wind turbines with a maximum height of 240 meters, a rotor diameter of 170 meters and a unit power of 6.6 megawatts. The combined total power output of the wind farm is 455.4 megawatts.

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– This is one of the most significant projects for us this year, as around 1,000 special transports leave the port of Kokkola for Lestijärvi, says Ville Silvasti, CEO of Kuljetusliike Ville Silvasti Oy.

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A significant crane investment brings more impact to container traffic The ship-to-shore gantry crane purchased by the Port of Kokkola is a significant investment in the development of container traffic through Kokkola. ” With this crane investment, we meet our customers’ needs, enable a clean transition of the industry, and at the same time it improves our service towards our partners”, says Torbjörn Witting, CEO of Port of Kokkola Ltd.

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e see a lot of potential in the container traffic, and that is the reason why Port of Kokkola is also purposefully investing in the development of the container traffic. For example, the current operators in the Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP) have considerable investment projects underway related to the clean green transition. In addition, many new players are considering investing in Kokkola.

– Since 2009, we have had loyal container traffic customers from, for example, the KIP, various industries and the retail sector in Central Finland. The container traffic in the port of Kokkola is currently multiplying, and we have received strong feedback and many requests from customers about increasing the container handling capacity. At the same time, the size of container ships is increasing all the time, and this large container crane capable of stacking and handling 17 container rows perfectly responds to this development. The crane is designed to handle over 60 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) per hour at its best, and it will serve our customers well into the future, Torbjörn Witting explains the background behind the crane procurement.

Until now, the containers have been handled in the General Port and the Silverstone Port. The ship-to-shore gantry crane will be placed in the Silverstone Port, where the container traffic will be concentrated in the future.

More than a week’s sea journeyfrom Gdynia to Kokkola

The ship-to-shore gantry crane was transported from Poland from the port of Gdynia to Kokkola in November. Tapio Lampinen, Technical Manager at Port of Kokkola, says that overall the transfer operation was a great success, even though the weather conditions required changes to the schedule on a couple of occasions. In total, the sea journey of the ship-to-shore gantry crane from Poland to Kokkola took 8 days.

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At the port of departure in Gdynia, the container gantry crane was moved on transfer rails onto the barge, thereafter the crane’s sea transport slings were securely applied and the necessary inspections related to the transport performed.

The transport had to wait more than a week for the storm that blew in the southern Baltic Sea off Gdynia and Gdansk to pass.

Once the transport began, the barge pulled by the tug proceeded at an average speed of 4-5 knots on a route along the Baltic eastern coast and the interior of the Estonian archipelago to the Archipelago Sea, and from there to the Finnish coast. At the latitude of Kokkola, strong winds surprised us again, which is why the convoy headed for shelter for a day on the Swedish side to wait for the weather to calm down.

– In Kokkola, the crane was brought to the Silverstone Port.

There, it was first moved to the quay and from there, pulled by a large wheel loader, along transfer rails to the port field, Tapio Lampinen says.

According to him, the goal is to have the crane in use next June.

Before that, the electrical system of the crane will be adapted to suit the conditions at the port of Kokkola. The rail spacing of the crane track used by the ship-to-shore gantry crane is 20 metres, which is why construction work is also being done on the harbour quay, when a 2-meter-high and 160-meter-long crane rail base beam of concrete will be piled and poured onto the crane track.

The 870-ton ship-to-shore gantry crane will be one of the Silverstone Port’s future landmarks. The cabin of the crane is located at a height of 40 metres, and the raised boom reaches up to a height of 96.3 metres.

PHOTOS: CLAS-OLAV SLOTTE

In Kokkola, the ship-to-shore gantry crane will be installed in the Silverstone Port, where the handling of containers will be concentrated in the future.

The ship-to-shore gantry crane was moved onto a barge in Gdynia, Poland, from where it was transported to the port of Kokkola towed by a tugboat.

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Container transport ente Customer needs drive dev

The Kokkola Container Day organised by Port of Kokkola in November brought together a wide range of container transport operators. Container transports through the port of Kokkola will increase significantly as a result of industrial investments. This will also increase the need to develop container services.

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orbjörn Witting, CEO of the Port of Kokkola, is delighted with the reception the first Kokkola Container Day has received.

– There is a wide network of operators involved in container transport and we are pleased to see many participants representing a wide range in this network. We are entering a new era for container transport in Kokkola, but at this point we wish to express our sincere thanks to our existing container customers for their collaboration so far. This is a good starting point from which to continue developing our operations, says Witting.

The seminar and panel discussion in the Customs Warehouse was moderated by Pekka Koskinen of Brave Logistics Finland. Speakers included Torbjörn Witting, CEO, Henrik Hagström, Export

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ers a new era velopment

The participants in the panel discussion were Jonas Wåhlin, Wallenius Sol (left), Henrik Hagström, Terrafame, Torbjörn Witting, Port of Kokkola, Tero Kosonen, Rauanheimo and Johan Smedjebacka, Backman-Trummer. The moderator was Pekka Koskinen, Brave Logistics Finland.

Manager at Terrafame, Jonas Wåhlin, CEO of Wallenius Sol Ab, Paula Erkkilä, CEO of the Nordic Chamber of Commerce and Tero Kosonen, CEO of Oy M Rauanheimo Ab. JOHAN SMEDJEBACKA, Regional Director of Oy Backman-Trummer Ab, which provides transport and maintenance services in the port of Kokkola, among others, said the event was necessary.

– It was a good day and great that so many people were interested.

Smedjebacka says there could have been even more discussion topics, but the talks on container transport will continue at the event which Backman-Trummer will organise at the end of January next year.

– We have had similar events over the last couple of years, with the biggest customers in the KIP area attending. If there are any new local customers who want to join in the discussions, they are welcome to do so and can contact me, he says.

Jonas Wåhlin, CEO of Wallenius Sol, was one of the speakers at the event.

One of the key issues that will be discussed at the meetings is a more detailed mapping of future volumes. This in turn will help service providers to develop their services to meet future customer needs.

– Another issue to consider is how to use incoming containers in the future for export cargo so that they don’t have to be sent empty elsewhere. This will have an impact on pricing, as well as on attracting more shipping companies to the port of Kokkola.

Smedjebacka stresses that Kokkola has all the prerequisites for an increase in container transports.

– We have a good shipping company that calls Kokkola on a weekly basis and whose schedules are reliable. Port of Kokkola is investing in a dedicated crane which will increase the container handling capacity in the port.

HANNU KÄNSÄKOSKI, Materials Manager at Umicore Finland, said it was good that both the industries in Kokkola Industrial Park and various actors in container transport were well represented. According to him, joint meetings are necessary in a situation where industry has major investment projects in the KIP area.

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The audience on Kokkola Container Day held at the Old Customs Warehouse.

Känsäkoski comments that during the day several interesting aspects were raised, such as the information gathered by the Chamber of Commerce about investments that are pending on the west coast of Finland, which will have a big impact on both container transport and port operations in general.

In her presentation, Paula Erkkilä, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Ostrobothnia, said that industrial investments worth around €40 billion are currently planned for the Western Industrial Zone on the coast, which, if implemented, would mean more than 6,000 new manufacturing jobs. The employment impact of these projects during their construction would amount to thousands of man-years.

– In Terrafame’s contribution, export manager Henrik Hagström highlighted a key point, by stressing that both exporters and importers must seek common interests. In my opinion there is also a lot of room for improvement, he said. It was also interesting to hear from Torbjörn Witting, Managing Director of Port of Kokkola, how the port operations and services will be developed in the coming years. For example, the current investment in a container crane definitely makes me confident that Kokkola believes in the growth of the container traffic and wants to invest in it, says Hannu Känsäkoski.

He says that the best way to develop container transport locally is through open discussion.

– It would be a good idea for operators to meet regularly around the same table, with a composition that best suits the respective agenda of the meeting.

This will ensure that both the Port of Kokkola and other operators have a clear, comprehensive understanding of the container traffic and its development needs. The KIP area lives in a strong symbiosis, and although the operators have their own individual interests, in the big picture it also makes sense to join forces in logistics, Känsäkoski emphasises.

JARI RAUMA, Transport Manager at Jervois Finland also describes the Container Day as a necessary and well-executed event.

– The fact that this event has been organised, shows that our, the customers’, voice has been heard. It is also important that there will be a follow-up and that the discussion will continue in

Paula Erkkilä, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Ostrobothnia, spoke about the investments planned for the west coast of Finland.

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smaller working groups. This work will certainly be needed for a long time to come, but we are heading in the right direction, says Rauma.

He believes it is important to involve as many stakeholders as possible, such as freight forwarders and shipowners, in the discussions on the development of container traffic in the port of Kokkola.

– It is quite clear that container transports, both import and export, through the port of Kokkola will grow significantly. Now is the time to make a big noise about future prospects, to involve a wide range of stakeholders in the development work and to ensure that the opportunities offered by Kokkola are taken into account in the decision-making process. At the moment, for example, many freight forwarders are selling port of Kokkola. It is also a good opportunity to get new ideas.

– Kokkola is for many reasons an important port for container transport, and it is therefore important to invest in it. I would also like to thank Johan Smedjebacka of Backman-Trummer for his active role in promoting the issue by inviting stakeholders to discuss development needs, continues Jari Rauma.

HENRIK HAGSTRÖM, Export Manager of Terrafame, praised the event and hoped that more presentations would be heard in the future from customers.

– The development of container transport could be furthered, for example, through informal and free form discussions organised by the Port or someone

else, without an audience. It would be good to involve potential customers, says Hagström.

In developing container traffic through Kokkola, he says, operations should be made more efficient to make the price of the transports to and from the port competitive compared with container ports in southern Finland.

– Container traffic consists of a flow of goods from many different operators and it is challenging to coordinate such a situation. Therefore, it would be good if someone tried to coordinate this, Hagström continued.

TERO KOSONEN, CEO of Rauanheimo, considers it important that the discussion on the development of the Kokkola container traffic has started and that there is a broad interest in it. The development must be carried out in cooperation between several parties, as no one can alone take it forward as a whole.

– As a priority, Rauanheimo and the Port of Kokkola should continue their discussions on their respective precise roles in the future. By this I mean, for example, who will be responsible for the crane operations, the management and development of the field areas, and so on.

Kosonen says that the development of the container traffic is particularly important for the local, fast-growing and strongly renewing industry. This means that future plans must be made using special consideration, having in sight the whole and the development of customer needs.

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CUSTOMER PRESENTATION

Jari Hänninen and Minna Myllykangas from Kokkola HalpaHalli praise Port of Kokkola and other partners in the container transport for their first-class service.

HalpaHalli’s containers from almost to the gate of the lo Cost-effective and reliable logistics is one of the most important cornerstones of competitiveness in the retail sector. Most of the goods imported by Kokkola Halpa-Halli Oy has arrived through the port of Kokkola as from the start of the regular container traffic to Kokkola in 2009.

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ero Harju, the entrepreneur of Kokkola’s Kuljetus Harju Oy, drives his truck next to a row of containers in the Silverstone Port. The reach stacker lifts the container deftly onto the container bed of the truck, after which the journey heads towards HalpaHalli’s logistics centre, which is located just under 5 kilometres from the port. At the logistics centre the truck is met by container unloaders that immediately start unloading the cargo and sorting the goods.

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HalpaHalli has 35 brick-and-mortar stores and an online store, and the products must be quickly delivered to the stores. Most of the goods imported by the company come from China, in addition to which there are also imports from Vietnam, Bangladesh and Turkey. Most of HalpaHalli’s own brand products arrive in containers. which are goods subject to customs clearance.

– It is extremely important for us that the containers arrive at the port of Kokkola, where operations are very efficient. The container ship arrives on Tuesdays, and often on the same day or on Wednesday, at the latest, Tero Harju can transport the containers to the logistics centre. If necessary, we can even get the

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In HalpaHalli’s logistics centre, the container unloaders were ready to start their own part in the order-delivery chain. In the photo, from the left, Mika Kero, Kari Haapoja, Tero Harju and Jarmo Saari.

transported onward by truck to Kokkola.

- In the departure countries we have our own suppliers of the goods and Nikolai Sourcing Oy is our partner. For example, the packaging design is done very carefully so that the containers can be packed efficiently in terms of space and so that unnecessary packaging material is avoided. Batch checks are also carried out in the countries of departure to ensure product quality and, for example, the correctness of product information and sales packaging. This avoids situations where goods have to be transported back and forth, Minna Myllykangas says.

In Kokkola, HalpaHall’s long-term partner in container traffic is also Oy Backman-Trummer Ab. Myllykangas and Hänninen praise this collaboration as easy and smooth. Backman-Trummer, among other things, routes containers and handles the customs clearance.

Customs clearance is no small task, because in total, HalpaHalli’s stores and online store sell thousands of product titles, from clothes to home textiles and consumer goods, and a large part of them is the company’s own imports.

m the Far East ogistics centre containers from the port in the order we want, and after unloading, Harju transports the empty containers back to the port, says Quality Manager Minna Myllykangas and Supply Chain Manager Jari Hänninen, who have worked with container transports for a long time at HalpaHalli.

IN THE FAR EAST, HalpaHalli’s containers are loaded on to ships for the ocean voyage in larger departure ports, from where they are transported to Antwerp.

From Antwerp, the containers are transferred to the vessels of Wallenius Sol, which bring the cargo to Kokkola’s Silverstone Port every Tuesday. In addition to Kokkola, some goods arrive at HalpaHalli in bulk containers to Helsinki and Rauma, from where they are

ACCORDING TO Jari Hänninen, it makes sense, both financially and logistically, for HalpaHalli to receive imported goods in containers directly at the Port of Kokkola, and from there quickly to the logistics centre.

Transporting containers by truck over long distances would increase costs and would also be a worse option for the environment. HalpaHalli’s goods arrive in Kokkola in 20 and 40 foot containers.

– Now it is easy to schedule the unloading of containers and reserve the necessary resources for it, because we know exactly when the containers will be in the logistics centre. The goods are sorted by product when the containers are unloaded, Hänninen says and emphasizes that logistics must be efficient at all stages of the order-delivery chain.

For HalpaHalli’s CEO Janne Ylinen, the container transports arriving in Kokkola also mean a choice of values.

– In this way, we are able to bring work to local companies and their employees. When you add to that the speed and ecology of transport and the cost-effectiveness of logistics, it is an overall sensible solution, he states.

Ylinen, who is the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Ostrobothnia, reminds us of the importance of ports both for business and for Finland’s security of supply.

– In Kokkola, the deep channel enables even the largest ships to operate. In the future, the development of the port infrastructure will continue to become more important, so that Port of Kokkola can serve the increasing needs of the Kokkola Industrial Area (KIP).

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BITS AND PIECES

Anssi Martinmäki started as Commercial Manager L

ogistics engineer Anssi Martinmäki started in November as the Commercial Manager of Port of Kokkola Ltd. He moved from Juhani Kähkönen Oy, where he worked as a project engineer in the development and planning of transports for the mechanical forest industry

Anssi Martinmäki has a strong experience of planning and managing port logistics tasks from his time at Oy M. Rauanheimo Ab. He started his working career at Rauanheimo in 2008 as stevedoring and forwarding foreman. After that, he worked for the company in the capacities of rail traffic planner, operational production planner and forwarding manager. He was responsible for the management, planning and development of the terminal operations of Rauanheimo. Most recently, in 2021-2022 he was the operational manager, responsible for business service planning and logistics management of the Kokkola unit of Rauanheimo.

– I have been very well received. One of the reasons why I applied for this position was that at Port of Kokkola I have the opportunity to work with a professional staff that demonstrates strong skills. The longterm employment relationships are also a sign of the employees’ commitment.

– Port of Kokkola has a strong future ahead of it, too, notwithstanding the fact that we now are facing challenging times. There are many long-term projects going on that will bring new opportunities for us and the entire industrial cluster surrounding the port.

Here Martinmäki refers, for example, to the role of Port of Kokkola as an enabler of the clean green transition.

– The developing infrastructure of the port and the local industry’s desire to invest, grow and adapt to future needs offer Port of Kokkola a good outlook into the future, says Anssi Martinmäki, who started as Commercial Manager of Port of Kokkola.

Port of Kokkola at fairs

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airs are important events for Sales and Marketing and an opportunity to network with the industry’s players. At the end of last November, Port of Kokkola participated in the Antwerp XL trade fair, organized in Antwerp, Belgium, which focused on the breakbulk market. At the turn of September-October, the Port of Kokkola participated in an international FEM event organized at Levi. A large number of representatives of the extractive industry took part in the event.

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ISPS exercise in Kokkola harbor I n December, a joint ISPS exercise of ports and authorities at the Bay of Bothnia was organized in the port of Kokkola, which focused on various factors related to the security of the port area. The ports of the Bay of Bothnia have joint exercises every year, and in addition to Kokkola, the ports of Tornio, Kemi, Oulu, Raahe, Kalajoki, Pietarsaari and Vaasa participated in the exercises.

Customs participated in the planning of the exercise

as a partner of the ports, and in addition, the authorities involved in the exercise included the Police and the Border Guard. A total of about 50 people participated in the exercise.

Safety is a fundamental pillar of port operations, and Port of Kokkola regularly also organizes its own local safety exercises. ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) is the international security code for ships and port facilities.

Port of Kokkola’s digital solutions are of international interest Port of Kokkola’s Development Manager Jyrki Roukala presented the digital solutions of Port of Kokkola to a French audience in November.

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ort of Kokkola’s ability to make extensive use of digitalization in the day-to-day operations of the port raises a lot of international interest. The most recent example of this was the event organized in November in Lyon, France, where Port of Kokkola’s Development Manager Jyrki Roukala presented numerous examples to the French audience how digital solutions facilitate and enhance work in the community of the port of Kokkola.

– In France, the state has a strong interest in supporting digitalization, and that is why examples like Port of Kokkola are interesting there. People want to learn and know the reasons of our success. The reality is that a large part of digitalization projects have gotten stuck at some point, and because of that, benefits cannot be extracted from them, Roukala explains.

According to him, the success of Port of Kokkola is based on a wireless LTE network and the software

world created around it. In addition to the fact that data is collected extensively, there is also the ability to know how to use it in practice.

– In Finland, we have an advantage compared to, for example, France in that the authorities and the business world have a common vision of how to promote digitalization. In addition, in Finland, Port of Kokkola, for example, can use national frequencies, while in Europe the frequencies are often very local.

Roukala says that the knowledge and experiences shared at international events offer Port of Kokkola an opportunity to further develop its own activities.

The event held in Lyon was organized by Edzcom, MGA Technologies and Nokia. At the annual Wireless Networks in Ports conference in London, Roukala has represented Port of Kokkola, both as a speaker and as a participant in the panel discussion.

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MY JOB

Years at sea gave way to the job as Harbour Master Tomas Mikkola’s office offers a view of the General Port of the port of Kokkola. Ships arrive and depart at a steady pace, but Mikkola, who has worked on ships for more than 20 years, says he does not long to go back to sea. However, you can always in your memories go back to those eventful years, and the experiences gained on the ships have provided Mikkola with a solid background for his current role as Harbour Master of Port of Kokkola.

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t’s 2011, and Tomas Mikkola has found himself, according to his own words, in the middle of nowhere or in the centre of the universe, depending on how you look at it. He is towing icebergs in the sea area between Greenland and Canada on Alfons Håkans’ tugboat Zeus. We are far north, at the 72nd parallel.

A little further north, communication with the rest of the world, at least with commercial satellite connections, would no longer be possible.

In his right hand, Mikkola holds a sextant with which he measures the size of the towed iceberg, and with his left hand he sends a message to the sea rescue centre with an Inmarsat C device.

– Although it was a fun place, I asked the skipper what I was doing here. I

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like the heat, the palm trees and the sand beaches. (Mikkola’s next job was in the Caribbean). There is a lesson in the story: if you imagine that you can slip away from something uncomfortable without ever finding it in front of you, the world will take its revenge. When I was a student, I thought that there were two things I didn’t need to learn. One was star navigation, for which a sextant is used, and the other was an old satellite communication system, which in turn is represented by Inmarsat C, Mikkola laughs.

TOMAS MIKKOLA’s longest-term employer has been Godby Shipping, a shipping company specializing in ro-ro vessels. He started by transporting paper rolls from Rauma and Kotka to Santander, Spain.

– When we set out on the journey, we knew we could expect both calm and stormy weather, as the route included not only the Baltic Sea, the English Channel, and the North Sea , but also the Bay of Biscay, known for its rough seas.

– In the winter, low pressures came one after the other like pigs in a poor house. Thanks to the cargo, it was easier to go down southwards, but the situation was different on the return trip northbound, in ballast condition. I’ve encountered a washing machine tumbling along the ship’s corridor, even though everything possible was bolted to the wall. Those moments when the sea was rough, you really do not miss.

However, Mikkola says that the winter storms of the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay were

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well compensated by the much calmer and pleasant conditions of the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

– As I had hoped, I then proceeded to the Caribbean, where we sailed with ro-ro vessels on inter-island feeder traffic. We called 11 ports in a week and worked 400 hours per month, i.e. on average 13 hours per day.

That was fun in its own way. It was evenly warm and the winds were favourable, and they were predictable.

The last 7 years, Mikkola worked as the captain of a ship. All in all these years at sea were, according to him, rewarding and educational.

– The biggest and most orange carrot was the long free periods. When you work for 6 weeks and then have another 6 weeks off, it helps you endure even the worst moments. I also got to meet and work with different people. In those years, I also learned to take decisions and act in the moment, as opposed to always following a plan strictly made in advance. At sea one had to adapt to changes.

TOMAS MIKKOLA, originally from the village Isokylä in Kokkola, is a returnee who now lives in his hometown with his wife and three daughters.

– I did my army service at the end of the 90s and I then told my father that I had seen this little village and will never come back. However, while I was at sea, I had already for some time sniffed at other options and then I found out that Port of Kokkola was looking for a new Harbour Master. I thought that if I would not apply for a position now, that opportunity would hardly be on offer again during my active working career.

According to Mikkola, the maritime background helps to cope with the many tasks and situations that come up every day at work. The Harbour Master’s field of duty is defined, among other things, by the fact that the port acts as a hub for sea traffic as well as rail and truck traffic.

– The start and end of a standard day are related to ship services. This requires that one anticipates the arrival and departure of ships and the related measures and services. In between, you can do a lot of things, starting with ISPS matters, which increase maritime safety in ports and on ships, to developing the Port Activity application together with the rest of the organization of the Port, or seeing to icebreaking in the winter.

Harbour Master Tomas Mikkola worked at sea for more than 20 years before taking up to his current position.

MIKKOLA DESCRIBES Port of Kokkola as an interesting workplace in many ways. Not least because the port is a key actor and enabler when it comes to the clean green transition and the growth and international competitiveness of Kokkola’s industrial area.

– We are in a phase of change, where we have a great opportunity to develop into a new kind of port, because there are many plans and great optimism on the horizon.

And how does the Harbour Master spend his free time?

– I would like to say fishing and skiing. But I have very rarely found myself fishing, and I don’t even have skis. After all, a person does and enjoys what interests him the most. For me, it seems to mean riding motorcycles and drinking beer (not at the same time). Listening to music is an important form of relaxation for me. For example, I like to build speakers and modify record players, and I listen to music in a specially designed acoustic music room. I’m really good at Pidro (a typical Ostrobothnian card game) , and at the seamen’s school in Turku, I got the Backgammon Bug. I have also participated in various tournaments, such as the Finnish backgammon championship.

– The port is a key player and enabler when talking about a clean green transition and the growth of Kokkola’s industrial area, says Harbour Master Tomas Mikkola.

ACTION PORT 1/2024

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