Action Port 2/2024, The newsletter of Port of Kokkola
KOKKOLANSATAMAOY:N SIDOSRYHMÄLEHTI2/2021 PORTOFKOKKOLANEWSLETTER FOR CUSTOMERS ANDINTERESTEDPARTIES2/2024
A massive wind power project is underway in the port of Kokkola
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
Hiutale Films
Alexandra Haapala
COVER PHOTO:
Transporting the components to the wind farm under construction in Lestijärvi requires 1,100 special transports.
PHOTO: CLAS -OLAV SLOTTE
Reliable delivery at all times
Delivery reliability and uninterrupted customer deliveries are key competitiveness factors for Port of Kokkola. This expertise of ours is also being tested in connection with the ongoing giant wind power project in Lestijärvi. To my delight, I have heard word that things are being taken care of in Kokkola. We have adhered to delivery reliability and uninterrupted operation throughout the duration of the Lestijärvi wind power project, including last spring, when political strikes caused challenges for goods transport and industry in Finland.
Providing the entire logistics of Finland’s largest onshore wind farm through Kokkola’s Silverstone port is an excellent opportunity for us to demonstrate our capabilities in the extremely demanding clean transition project. It is a matter of a precisely scheduled whole, the success of which requires seamless teamwork. Even at this stage, it is appropriate to say a warm thank you to all those parties who are involved in the project in various ways.
Along with wind power industry, Silverstone port is important for the companies of the Kokkola industrial area and for our customers in central Finland. Many companies using the port of Kokkola are currently expanding their operations, in addition to which Kokkola’s large industrial area has already been established, and where, in the future, even more completely new clean transition operators will likely be located.
For this reason, Port of Kokkola is also investing in the development of container traffic in the long term, so that we can meet the growing service needs of the industry. The most recent example of this is the purchase of a container gantry crane, the modernization of which is currently underway. After the modernization is completed, we have at our disposal a crane that will be operational far into the future, which will increase the container handling capacity to a completely new level.
In order to maintain the conditions at Port of Kokkola to continue its work, for example as an enabler of a clean transition, we are constantly having discussions with customers and other port operators. In this way, we are able to expand our service offering so that it continues to serve our customers’ needs as well as possible.
TORBJÖRN WITTING
Port of Kokkola Ltd.
Notra Oy modernizes the container gantry crane
The container gantry crane invested by Port of Kokkola will significantly increase the impact capacity of the container traffic through Kokkola. In May, the representatives of Port of Kokkola and Notra Oy from Rauma signed an agreement on the modernization of the container gantry crane purchased from the port of Gdynia in Poland.
With the crane investment, Port of Kokkola will increase its container handling capacity in a situation where the amount of container traffic in Kokkola is multiplying at the same time as the size of container ships increases. The sturdy container crane, now being modernized with 17 container rows, is designed to handle more than 60 TEU, (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) 25 – 30 containers per hour at its best.
– It’s great that Finland has this kind of know-how related to modernization. At Port of Kokkola, we have used modernization for a long time to increase crane capacity, says Torbjörn Witting, CEO of Port of Kokkola.
ACCORDING to Tomi Ojanen, the Sales Director of NOTRA Oy, one of the advantages of modernization is cost efficiency.
– In connection with the modernization, it is also possible to improve, for example, energy efficiency and occupational safety, Ojanen continues.
The orders for the components related to the modernization have already started, and the crane’s current technology will be dismantled at the beginning of June. In modernization, among other things, a new operating system is installed on the crane, and in addition, the mechanical parts, including motors and brakes, are serviced and, if necessary, refurbished. The crane will also be equipped with a hoist for handling the bulk.
At the same time as the modernization, a new crane track is being built on the port quay of Silverstone port, where the container crane will be moved in September for commissioning and actual use.
The crane is supposed to be in full operation in November. Container handling in Kokkola will, in the future, be concentrated at Silverstone port, whose crane capacity will get a significant increase after the modernization is completed.
Notra Oy’s sales director Tomi Ojanen (right) and Kokkola Port CEO Torbjörn Witting and technical manager Tapio Lampinen at the signing ceremony of the modernization contract.
Wind power logistics massive task
The wind turbines for Finland’s largest onshore wind farm pass through the port of Kokkola. It is a giant wind power logistics project that requires seamless mutual collaboration and strong professionalism from the logistics operators. No fewer than 1,100 special transports of wind turbine components depart from the port of Kokkola to the wind farm built by OX2 in Lestijärvi.
Such a large wind power logistics service package would not have been possible if the framework in the port of Kokkola had not been such that it enables, for example, the unloading of components from ships, the storage of components and special transports from the port via the nearby large industrial area and Kokkola urban areas to the exits.
– The long-term development of port logistics for onshore wind farm components is now bearing fruit. This is a big challenge for us, which we are happy to
Wind turbine blades being transported to the Lestijärvi wind farm in Silverstone Port.
meet. We have been planning the implementation of the project for a couple of years together with various parties, and the work done culminates in the ground transportation that started in May, says Torbjörn Witting, CEO of Port of Kokkola Ltd.
According to him, practical work related to wind power logistics has continued to be developed in the port of Kokkola since the first components arrived in Kokkola some years ago.
– When there is room for improvement, we have learned from those times. The ongoing Lestijärvi project is our calling card and we know that the progress of the project will be monitored extensively and closely. The best marketing for Port of Kokkola is that this project succeeds in every way, Witting continues.
Transporting the components to the wind farm under construction in Lestijärvi requires 1,100 special transports.
WIND POWER LOGISTICS is centralized from the three ports of Kokkola to Silverstone Port, which is also being developed to meet future offshore wind power projects. The port, for example, will expand to the sea as the new port field is completed.
Currently, Silverstone Port has approximately 15 hectares of uniform area for handling and storing components. The Silverstone pier has been extended to 440 meters, and the crane capacity has also been increased. In addition, Port of Kokkola has been implementing a
special transport route for components from the port through the large industrial area to the exit routes.
The Lestijärvi project comprises a total of 1,100 special transports, which will continue for the rest of the year. An individual wing transport truck has a total length of 96 meters, and the total weight of the heaviest individual transport is approximately 170 tons.
The wind farm to be built in Lestijärvi comprises 69 wind turbines, with the combined total power of the wind farm being 455.4 megawatts.
The Commercial Manager is in Direct contact with customers
Logistics engineer Anssi Martinmäki, who started at Port of Kokkola as Commercial Manager at the end of last year, jumped on a moving train.
Martinmäki is kept busy by the port logistics of the wind power industry, as well as the development of the container traffic and the communication with the port company’s customers.
Anssi
Martinmäki is keeping a close eye on Silverstone Port as the first road transport is being prepared for departure towards Lestijärvi, where Finland’s largest onshore wind farm is being built. During the rest of the year, no less than 1,100 special transports of wind turbine components will head to the wind power site from the port, with Martinmäki also acting as the project manager of the Lestijärvi project in addition to his own duties.
A large number of representatives of customers and partners have gathered there. If anything, such a project is, according to the commercial manager, a team effort, which in order to be successful requires the full commitment of all involved.
Despite the project’s enormous scale and demands, Martinmäki feels confident about the coming months. After all, the project has been planned together with various parties years in advance, and the various areas are handled by professionals, all much experienced in their own field.
AT THE BREAKBULK FAIR in Rotterdam in May, the port of Kokkola was noted, according
In Silverstone Port, Anssi Martinmäki (left) and Vesa Karhula from Rauanheimo followed the departure of the first wind turbine transport towards Lestijärvi.
customers
to Martinmäki, in particular because Kokkola has a superior infrastructure that works for a wide range of different types of goods.
– We are able to offer cost-effective logistics services, and in addition, our customers can trust on things going smoothly in the port of Kokkola, in all situations, says Martinmäki.
He points out that Kokkola is also used for big volumes, and the large traffic flows have made it possible to invest in crane capacity, port areas and warehouses.
– At the same time, we have remained agile. We have the ability to serve even smaller customers and can offer them customized solutions. We are not only strong in handling bulk.
Looking at the components of onshore wind turbines neatly laid out on the Silverstone Port fields, Martinmäki sees port logistics related to offshore wind power as a natural extension of the current situation.
– In addition to its infrastructure, the advantage of the port of Kokkola is its excellent location in relation to the planned offshore wind power project areas. As a result, Kokkola serves the coastal regions of both Finland and Sweden in the Gulf of Bothnia region, as far south as the Bothnian Sea. In addition to the wind turbine components, the recently acquired sturdy container gantry crane proudly stands in Silver-
stone Port as a landmark of the entire harbour area. According to Martinmäki, it is a visible indication that the Port of Kokkola is also investing in the development of container traffic in the long term.
– We invest in the customers’ requests, for example, in container handling capacity, storage and value-added services.
A COMMERCIAL MANAGER spends a large part of his working hours on cost calculations and selling services and sales promotion.
– One part of my job is the stakeholder cooperation with the port’s stevedoring companies, but the most important task of my job is to take care of customers and keep in touch with them, because that is the only way you learn to understand their processes, from the inside out. When a customer asks us about the service package, he wants to know how Port of Kokkola implements a route that is cost-effective and meets the quality requirements. When you know the customer’s processes, you can offer solutions that, at best, exceed the customer’s expectations. It is also the best way to promote sales.
Anssi Martinmäki’s previous career gives him good preparation for his current position. In 2008, he began a long career at Rauanheimo, first as manager of stevedoring and forwarding work, then moved on to traffic planner, then to planner of operations and later to forwarding manager.
– In the end, I worked as operational manager, and I was then responsible for the entire production services of Rauanheimo’s Kokkola unit.
Before his current position, he worked for a short time in his native Haapajärvi at Juhani Kähkönen Oy, handling as project engineer their development projects for road transport telematics and the by-product streams of the mechanical forest industry.
– It was really easy to come to this job because I already knew the people of Port of Kokkola, who, by the way, are top professionals, the stakeholders, the technology and the infrastructure. We are doing everything we can to get traffic to the port of Kokkola, which we hope will prove to be the most attractive option for customers. Then we will be able to realize as many pending projects as possible, in addition to providing high-quality service to our current customers.
In spite of the commercial manager having enough work, he still finds time for his hobbies.
– I do jogging and exercising in nature, and that helps me cope with the busy work.
My cabin in Muonio is in frequent use all year round, and I do quite a lot of fishing when I am there, says Anssi Martinmäki.
Chairman of the board of the port company,
The port lives by the pulse of
In Central Ostrobothnia, the value of exports per capita is at the cutting edge in Finland. The Chairman of the board of Port of Kokkola Ltd, Jorma Kauppila, says that Port of Kokkola’s social mission is to enable cost-effective and smooth transport for foreign trade.
Jorma Kauppila says he likes to talk about Kokkola’s large-scale industrial area and also more broadly about the industrial green transition of the county of Central Ostrobothnia and the role of Port of Kokkola in this. Not least because the aforementioned industry is of enormous importance to the employment and thus the vitality of Kokkola and the entire county. We are not talking about hundreds, but several thousand jobs in all. And when there is work, tax revenue also accumulates, with which the municipalities provide services to their residents.
– The port is above all a provider of opportunities. Raw materials come to the port of Kokkola in containers, and products leave for the world in containers. At the moment, the transportation of wind turbine components is also topical. The social mission of the port culminates in the fact that it cannot be a hindrance to the green transition. On the contrary, the port must be an efficient and competitive actor in the logistics of the green transition between the large industrial area,
the surrounding county and, more broadly, Finland and the rest of the world, Kauppila states.
WHAT IS REQUIRED from the port to act as an enabler?
– We have to serve current customers well, but we also need to acquire new customers and thereby increase the volume. This can only be achieved with a competitive and high-quality service offering, and Port of Kokkola is also investing in this, the Chairman continues and lists examples of recent investments.
– At the request of the customers, we have concentrated the container traffic to the Silverstone Port and acquired a top-class container crane there. We have also implemented a special transport route from the port through the city to exit routes, and we are still developing our storage services.
– My message to the industry is that as the port company we strive to enable all the growth and new traffic and volume needs that customers have, and to do it as competitively as possible. We are aware of our role, and it gives us a great responsibility, but we are also ready to shoulder it.
The port complex includes many actors, and they all have their own task, so that the end result is cost-ef-
Jorma Kauppila, the Chairman of Port of Kokkola Ltd. Board, underscores the port’s societal obligation to provide a structure that facilitates efficient and seamless transport services. This commitment ensures that the Port of Kokkola remains a vital hub for commerce and trade.
Jorma
Kauppila: foreign trade
fective and smooth port logistics for cus tomers.
– Honourable mention for the good work goes to the entire port team, Kauppila states, mention ing separately the Port’s longterm partner Rauanheimo, who manages a large and key part of the port operations.
lations without any time for thinking or preparation. The end of transit traffic to the port meant that tens of percent of traffic and profitability were wiped out over one night.
According to Kauppila, the transformation, i.e. the building of a new business, started with the fact that there were no longer large bulk piles formed by Russian pellets in the port yards. The only consolation was that, in the words of the chairman, with the income from the transit traffic it was possible to make proactive investments in the port of Kokkola, which will all have a positive effect on the operation of the port for decades to come.
– I am really happy about the steps we have already taken with the development of the container traffic. For the staff of Port of Kokkola, the transformation has posed enormous challenges. They are a great team that has worked under enormous pressure, the chairman praises.
ACCORDING TO Kauppila, the port’s investment needs will continue to be completely linked to how the industry of Kokkola and the province in particular develops and what kind of visions the industry has.
– If wind energy continues to grow, the hydrogen economy develops and the plans of Finnish and international companies start to come true, the outlook can be pretty wild. Although the green transition is taking a bit of a breather at the moment, electrification is definitely not ending, he states.
In Kokkola, large wind power projects in Kälviä and Ullava are coming up for processing by the city administration. Kauppila reminds us that the implementation of these investments is also ensured by good, fast and flexible licensing.
– The years as
chairman of a listed company
brought strong administrative experience and competence to manage the port company’s board as well.
WHEN TALKING about Port of Kokkola’s current affairs, one must also look to the recent past. Jorma Kauppila di vides the review period into before and after the war of aggres sion started by Russia in Ukraine in February 2022. In the port of Kokkola and the port company, a result of the war meant the end of the decades-long, highly profitable era of Russian transit traffic with large investments, and a present without that transit traffic.
– I started as chairman a month after the Russian invasion. In that situation, Port of Kokkola’s management and the board had to implement the new regu-
– I have no doubt that Kokkola wants to boost such green transition investments, the effects of which can be seen in the port as well. When hundreds of wind turbines are operating in the nearby area, the service and maintenance services needed for the projects require extensive port areas.
For Jorma Kauppila, the chairmanship of the board of the port company is a pleasant experience.
– I was already a member of the port management board during the time when the port was a public utility company, and prior to the current chairmanship, I was a member of the board for a few years after incorporation of the public company. I previously worked as the chairman of a listed company for twenty years, which brought administrative experience and competence to this position as well. The port is a world of its own, a kind of foreign trade artery, and that is why it is so interesting, he says.
An agent has many irons in the fire
A shipowner’s agent, aka ’the broker’, represents the ship and its shipping company during the port call. UPF Finland’s Tomas Uschanow has 30 years of practical experience as an agent. He says that the position requires above all the ability to manage projects, because a broker has many irons in the fire at the same time.
Digitization and the possibility of managing things remotely have changed the practical work of brokers, but project management and flexibility are still at the core of the profession.
– You can be on vacation in Rome with your wife and enjoy the trip, as long as you check your work e-mail and look for any questions from customers, says Tomas Uschanow.
He spoke about his work on Langh Ship’s Olivia in connection with the recent visit of the vessel to Kokkola. At the same time, Uschanow managed the affairs of another ship bringing wind turbine blades from India to the port of Kaskinen the next day.
The things the agent is responsible for are case-specific, but typically the agent manages, for example, the connections with the shipping company, authorities, shippers, and charterers. the agent orders the pilot and the men to moor and unmoor the ship. An agent also handles crew changes.
– In terms of cargo, we were responsible for unloading the cargo at the quay in Kokkola, from where it will be handled by the receiver of the cargo. For a foreign captain of the ship arriving in Kaskinen, the waters of the area are unknown, which often affects how many tugboats are wanted to assist. Water samples are also needed from the ship arriving tomorrow,
for which I have obtained sampling bottles from the health authorities. In addition, I have also ordered a health inspector to come aboard on the ship’s arrival, because a ship must have a valid health certificate. The certificate of this ship has expired. The procurements for the vessel also include 20 tons of steel plate and timber for the next cargo, so that the weight of the cargo can be distributed. As an agent, I have not yet had to give birth to a baby, but I have done almost everything else, Uschanow laughs when describing the versatility of his work.
ACCORDING TO Uschanow, what makes the work of an agent rewarding and interesting is that you get to see many things at work and meet different people from different cultures. Of course, it’s sad that with remote work there are fewer moments when the agent sits down face-to-face with the ship’s captain for coffee to take care of paperwork and exchange information.
Decades of experience in the industry, both on ships and on the docks, has taught him one thing in particular, which he has also taught his son, who works in the same field.
– I told the boy that when there is a change, first drink a cup of coffee, then go to the toilet and then drink another cup of coffee. If at that point the change is still relevant, make the change. It usually happens that when the change is made right away, you will, after a while, notice that the situation has changed again. Listening to Uschanow, it becomes clear that, in general, it helps the work of an agent to have the much-talked-about ‘eye for the game’.
– Of course, this job also requires a long fuse, flexibility, imagination, the ability to react quickly and good communication skills. The situations and people you meet in this job are very different, he says.
– One of the best parts about an agent’s job is the versatility, because in this job you come across so many different situations and so many different people from different cultures, says Tomas Uschanow.
Langh Ship’s multi fuel vessel called Kokkola on her maiden voyage
At the All Weather Terminal in the port of Kokkola, components for Sibanye-Stillwater’s Keliber lithium refinery, which is under construction, were unloaded from m/s Olivia.
M/sOlivia, the new ship of the Finnish family shipping company Langh Ship, called the port of Kokkola on her maiden voyage. M/s Olivia is a multi-fuel vessel that can operate on several different fuels. In addition to traditional diesel, fuel options include LNG, i.e. liquefied natural gas and liquefied biogas.
According to Captain Matti Hautaniemi of m/s Olivia, she used both LNG and diesel on her maiden voyage of from the Wuhu shipyard in China to Finland.
– It has no effect on the performance, which fuel is used. I believe that LNG in particular will play a big role in the future when we talk about the fuels of the future, because LNG has sufficient energy content for this activity, he says.
M/s Olivia has a dead weight tonnage 7,800 tons, and she will, together with her two sister ships, be employed in the traffic of Outokumpu Oyj. The ships transport steel coils from Tornio to Outokumpu’s Terneuzen factory in Holland.
– When we fill up a tank full of LNG in Tornio, it should be enough to go to Holland and back, says Hautaniemi.
M/S OLIVIA and her sister ships are reinforced and equipped with cargo securing solutions specifically designed for the transport of heavy steel reels. In the
M/s Olivia’s Captain Matti Hautaniemi (left) and Harbour Captain Tomas Mikkola of Port of Kokkola exchanged news about the maiden voyage of m/s Olivia.
case of m/s Olivia, the maximum cargo weight is a good 6,000 tons. In addition to steel reels, the new ships are very suitable for transporting a wide variety of goods. M/s Olivia is 120 meters long, 16.5 meters wide and has a draft of 7.2 meters when fully loaded.
M/s Olivia arrived at the port of Kokkola because the ship had been loaded with components along the way, which were brought to Kokkola and transferred from the General Port’s AWT terminal to Sibanye-Stillwater’s Keliber lithium refinery, which is under construction in the Kokkola Industrial Park.
The route of m/s Olivia’s predecessor from the Chinese shipyard still ran through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to Europe, but due to the deteriorating security situation in the Red Sea, m/s Olivia’s route to her new home waters went via Cape Town.
Langh Ship, which is based in Piikkiö, Kaarina, has been growing rapidly during the last five years. In addition to the three new ships for Outokumpu’s traffic, the shipping company is building three slightly larger ships in China for container transports within Europe.
PHOTO:
New container spreader featuring 3D-balancing for the Silverstone’s container operations
Commissioning of automatic container spreader has taken place in the Silverstone Port. Spreader has an important and brand-new feature, automatic 3D-balancing. Compared for example to automatic spreaders already used in our All Weather Terminal (AWT), new VDL can adjust its trim to each side in relation to vessel. This increases overall container handling efficiency and flexibility, especially in demanding lifting conditions, thus further shortening the turnaround time of container ships in our port.
In addition, new spreader has other effective features:
• Capacity in single container mode (20’/30/40’/45’) up to 41 000 kg, S.W.L.
New container spreader increases overall handling effectiveness in the Silverstone Port.
• Capacity in twin lift mode (2 x 20’): up to 2 x 32 500 kg, S.W.L.
The new VDL container spreader is an essential part of our long-term container operations development plan and increases overall handling effectiveness in the Silverstone Port.
Big ships in the deep channel
CSSC Le Havre visited Kokkola’s deep harbour at the beginning of June.
For the second time, at the beginning of June, a large vessel operated in the port of Kokkola’s 14.2-meter deep channel, when CSSC Le Havre picked up Finnish iron ore from Kokkola.
CSSC Le Havre was built in 2021 and operates under a Hong Kong flag.
The vessel has a deadweight of 120,000 tons, a length of 254.96 meters and a width of 43.05 meters.
At the end of May, the CL Fuzhou He, operating under a Liberian flag and carrying zinc concentrate, arrived in Kokkola’s deep harbour. The vessel’s deadweight is 63,125 tons, length 199.99 meters and width 32.26 meters.
Thank you to the fair visitors, welcome to the autumn fair
Port of Kokkola is participating in several trade fairs organized this year.
The Breakbulk Europe trade fair organized in Rotterdam in May was very successful for the Port. Many thanks to all the fair visitors who visited our stand, and we will meet again next year under the same conditions.
In the autumn, we shall participate in exhibitions in Finland and abroad. Please mark the following events and dates in your calendar now, where Port of Kokkola is involved:
• Wind Energy Hamburg 24/09-27/09/2024. Our booth is B1.OG.214 (upper floor).
• Antwerp XL 08-10/10/2024.
• Finnmateria Jyväskylä 07-08/11/2024.
Anssi Martinmäki (left), Dick Fraser and Torbjörn Witting at the Breakbulk Europe fair at the Port of Kokkola stand.
