KOKKOLANSATAMAOY:N SIDOSRYHMÄLEHTI2/2021 PORTOFKOKKOLANEWSLETTER FOR CUSTOMERS ANDINTERESTEDPARTIES3/2024
Wind power logistics with clockwork accuracy
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
Jonna Kastell-Klapuri
COVER PHOTO:
The special transport route implemented by Port of Kokkola create the conditions for cost-effective port logistics.
PHOTO: CLAS -OLAV SLOTTE
Efficient and versatile services for our customers in three ports
Thanksto its service equipment, the port of Kokkola has long been the number one port for Finland’s mining industry as well as for the extensive local and developing chemical and metallurgical industry. In addition to the 14.2-meter deep channel and Deep Port, we enable our customers’ logistics by, among other things, building new port fields and investing in cranes.
In addition to this, the port of Kokkola has developed into a significant wind power logistics centre, which combines ship component transports, port logistics and land transports to wind power parks.
The growth of wind power logistics is based on the existing framework and service. The deep channel of the port of Kokkola enables the operation of the largest ships, and the crane capacity and extensive harbour areas with warehouses and the special transport route implemented by Port of Kokkola create the conditions for cost-effective port logistics. It has been a pleasure to receive customer feedback that it is easy to work here.
In the past year, the service complex of the port of Kokkola has functioned flawlessly even when challenges have arisen in the operating environment. High delivery reliability further strengthens our trusted relationships with all customers and partners.
At the time of writing this, we have a major wind power logistics project going on, where around 1,100 special transports of wind power components leave from Kokko la port to Lestijärvi. An onshore wind farm is currently being built there, which will be the largest in Finland when completed. To our delight, at the same time as the Lestijärvi project, we have started another important project, where the components of the wind turbines pass through the port of Kokkola to the Sandbacka wind farm.
In addition to Port of Kokkola’s own staff, a large number of actors partici pate in these projects, whose mutual co operation has been honed into a seamless whole. In practice, it means efficient wind power logistics with clockwork accuracy, for which a big thank you to all the actors.
In addition to wind power logistics, the past year has been particularly busy in container traffic, which has grown by around 30 percent so far. The container crane acquired by Port of Kokkola and put into use at the end of the year supports the continued growth of container traffic, and in addition, we have also developed Silverstone Port in other ways to meet the needs of container traffic.
Due to the modest growth of the global economy and the fierce competition between ports, the financial years are not necessarily related. At Port of Kokkola, we respond to this challenge by being diligently on the move wherever we can get deals done. The task is pleasant, because Kokkola has a framework that can be presented to everyone who needs port logistics services.
TORBJÖRN WITTING CEO Port of Kokkola Ltd.
A new wind power project started in Silverstone Port
The tower parts of the wind turbines of the Sandbacka wind park arrived at Kokkola’s Silverstone Port in one shipment.
Wind power construction accelerates renewable energy production, and Port of Kokkola has become an important service provider as part of the green transition investments. The newest wind power project started in October, when the first ship carrying wind turbine components to the Sandbacka wind power farm arrived at Silverstone Port.
M/s Caribbean Harmony brought all the tower parts for the 14 wind turbines of the Sandbacka wind power farm to Kokkola in one go. According to Jyrki Roukala, Development Manager of Port of Kokkola, it was an exceptionally large single shipment, the like of which arrives in Finland only a few times a year. Although the job was challenging, the discharging of the tower components from the ship went quickly.
– It was an extremely successful and professionally executed discharging operation. Port of Kokkola, Transport Company Ville Silvasti and Rauanheimo have refined their collaboration in previous wind power projects, and now we saw that at its best. The parties have good mutual communication, and they make the whole work safely, efficiently and on schedule, says Roukala.
port of Kokkola has a good fairway channel, ready for large transports, plenty of storage area for the components, and large port fields that makes it possible to receive large deliveries. The whole is complemented by sufficient crane capacity and a staff that is trained in lifting components and other required handling.
– After Caribbean Harmony arrived at the quay, the discharging of the components from the ship started on Friday at 16:00. The work was intensively done also over the weekend, and discharging was completed by Monday at 16:00. This was one of the best cargo handling operations ever seen in the port of Kokkola, praises Roukala.
– This was one of the best cargo handling operations ever seen in the port of Kokkola.”
THE SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE started from the planning that began last fall. In addition to that, the
On the eve of the jubilee year
The port of Kokkola will celebrate its 200 years next year. Port of Kokkola brought a festive mood to the port community by offering donuts and coffees to more than a hundred employees who arrived at Silverstone Port in September. Each of them, with their own contribution and expertise, makes the functional and reliable port complex what it is today.
The preparations for the jubilee year are well underway and we can already tell that the jubilee year will be visible in many ways.
The Sandbacka wind farm is being built in Ostrobothnia in the areas of the town of Nykarleby and the municipality of Vörå. Wind farm components will arrive to Kokkola on four more ships. The land transport from the port of Kokkola to the building site will start in November and will continue until next year.
At the same time, the port logistics of Finland’s largest onshore wind farm that is being erected in Lestijärvi, will also continue.
The huge contract, comprising of around 1,100 special transports, is progressing on schedule and these land transports will continue, as well, until next year. A more detailed presentation of the Lestijärvi project can be found elsewhere in this publication.
The giant wind power logistics project is progressing on schedule
The port of Kokkola is at the centre of the largest ongoing wind power logistics project. Around 1,100 special transports of wind turbine components to Lestijärvi will depart from the Silverstone port during the nearly year-long contract. The onshore wind farm built in the region by the renewable energy company OX2 will be the largest in Finland when it is completed.
Vehicle combinations carrying blades are an impressive sight. In the picture, a blade transport traveling to Lestijärvi at the roundabout of Pohjoisväylä and Ouluntie.
PHOTO: CLAS-OLAV SLOTTE
– When the ship arrives at Silverstone Port, we make sure that the lifts take place one set at a time, so that the wings can be stored in the right order on the port field.
PORT MANAGER
TEEMU
TERÄVÄ
Shipsbringing wind turbine components have been a familiar sight in Kokkola’s Silverstone Port for a long time. The unloading of the components from the ships and the storage in the port yards takes place with the smooth cooperation of Port of Kokkola, Transport Company Ville Silvasti and Rauanheimo.
The framework in Silverstone Port is excellent for port logistics of wind turbines. About 15 hectares of uniform area is used for processing and storing components. In addition, the quay of Silverstone Port has been extended to 440 meters, and Port of Kokkola has also invested in crane capacity as well as a special transport route from the port to the main roads.
A total of 69 wind turbine parts are transported from Kokkola to Lestijärvi. The transported components include more than 470 tower parts, more than 200 blades and 345 other powerplant parts, such as engine rooms, rotor hubs and transformers.
THE BLADE TRANSPORTS are the most spectacular part of road transport for the general public, but also very demanding from the point of view of the operators. The blades of the wind turbines are transported in sets of three blades, and the setting has already taken place during the manufacturing phase at the factory. A single blade of the wind turbines rising on Lestijärvi weighs about 30 tons and is 83 meters long.
– When the ship arrives at Silverstone Port, we make sure that the lifts take place one set at a time, so that
the wings can be stored in the right order on the port field. Then it’s easy to take them to be prepared and loaded for land transport, says Port Manager Teemu Terävä from Transport Company Ville Silvasti.
According to him, lifting components from the ship to the port area must be done with extreme care and professionalism.
– During lifting, the most important thing is occupational safety, but failures can also have financial consequences. For example, damage to one blade may affect the usability of the whole set.
PORT LOGISTICS takes place through careful advance planning together with Port of Kokkola and Rauanheimo, according to Teemu Terävä. The preparation phase of the land transport of the blades requires several hours, and the journey from the port to Lestijärvi takes about 6 hours.
For land transport, the blades are turned to a new position in the port area, because Silvasti uses a method for blade transports, thanks to which the transport height is significantly lower than usual, enabling long blades to be transported.
When the convoy of three blades sets off from Silverstone harbour, two warning vehicles go in front and one behind. Behind each vehicle carrying the blades there is a pilot who controls the rear of the trailer in front using a remote control.
– The truck carrying the blades is so long that the
Parts of a total of 69 wind turbines pass to Lestijärvi through Silverstone Port.
– In addition to driving skills, the drivers need solid nerves, because the speed of progress is sometimes painfully slow.
PORT MANAGER TEEMU TERÄVÄ
– Handling and transporting wind turbine components require extreme care and professionalism, says Port Manager Teemu Terävä.
driver cannot see the rear. The pilot and the driver are in radio communication with each other, as the role of the pilot is critical, especially during turns. The pilot watches where the trailer goes and makes sure that the component does not hit, for example, traffic signs or traffic lights, explains Teemu Terävä.
The 140-kilometer journey to Lestijärvi reaches a maximum of about 60 km/h, with an average speed of about 25 km/h. Once there, clean and smooth site roads make the transport process easier.
– We have also worked in much more difficult terrains. In Norway, for example, several tow trucks have sometimes been needed to pull the trucks up a hill.
TEEMU TERÄVÄ praises Silvasti’s drivers as solid professionals in their field. The drivers are Finnish and Danish.
– We get to do this job with a really good team. In addition to driving skills, the drivers need solid nerves, because the speed of progress is sometimes painfully slow. You can’t get nervous under any circumstances. At the beginning of September, about 500 special transports had left the port of Kokkola for Lestijärvi.
– Everything has gone according to plan. All in all, the route is quite easy, and other road traffic has received us very well and made room for special transports. As a general rule, we have been able to schedule the transports in such a way that the biggest traffic volume spikes have been avoided, says Terävä.
Port of Kokkola as an enabler of a clean transition
Port of Kokkola’s logistics services are part of the whole that enables a clean transition, such as investments in renewable energy production.
69 Siemens Gamesa SG 6.6-170 wind turbines with a maximum height of 240 meters and a combined total power of 455.4 megawatts will be constructed in the wind farm built by OX2 in Lestijärvi. In addition to the wind turbines, the project includes the construction of a new substation and 110 kilovolt and 400 kilovolt power lines for the transmission of electricity.
The electricity produced at the wind park will be connected to the main grid at the Alajärvi substation via a new electricity transmission connection.
The wind park is estimated to start operating at the beginning of 2025. Its annual energy production is approximately 1.3 terawatt hours, which corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 280,000 households (5,000 kWh/household).
The value of the entire project is 650 million euros, and about one fifth of the investment remains in the economic area.
The project engineer has many balls in the air
The Port of Kokkola’s agile organization handles projects efficiently and flexibly. Project Engineer Juho Elo considers versatility to be the best aspect of his job. When one job is completed, the next one is ahead, a unique project in terms of content.
While the cranes are unloading wind tur bine components from the ship and large machines are transporting them to the storage area to await road trans port, elsewhere in Silverstone Port, Juho Elo is standing next to the weight bench and looking out at the sea, towards which the port is expanding. A new port field is being built all the time in the port of Kokkola, and the weight bench brings stability and durability to the field area under construction. When the weight bench has done its job, it is moved to a new location to prime the next expansion phase.
ABOUT 70 PERCENT of Juho Elo’s work as a project engineer at Port of Kokkola is project management of investments, such as the construction of port fields, where his role is to act as a project manager. The remaining 30 percent is related to a wide range of infrastructure and building maintenance.
– With projects, my own job description depends on whether the implementation is Port of Kokkola or the main contractor, i.e. the contractor himself. In the former case, I manage construction sites in the role of a supervisor, and in the latter as a project engineer in the role of the client and developer.
The construction of port fields is an important part of the long-term development of Port of Kokkola.
– When planning a new port field, the contours of the construction area are first drawn on the map. In the following work phases, among other things, the em bankments will be built, filling work will be done, the necessary municipal technology will be built, such as electricity and water lines and the drainage system, and finally the surface will be asphalted, turning the area into a port field, says Elo.
Warehouses are often built on the completed port field, and the warehouses may include, for example, conveyors and other machines or equipment for handling goods. The project engineer participates in the technical specification of the equipment to be acquired, as well as in their tendering and procurement negotiations.
– When Port of Kokkola plans projects, one of the most important things is cost estimation. If the Port’s customer has indicated that they need a certain kind of service, as a technical person I find out what kind of technical implementation it requires
Juho Elo is busy in the port area, among other things, monitoring the progress of the construction works.
– A new port field is being built all the time, says project engineer Juho Elo.
and what the investment costs are. It helps to evaluate the costs that I have done many things under the sun in my working career, and thus accumulated useful information and practical experience.
ONE BIG PART of land construction is the construction of underground pipelines, which have been built in the port by the kilometre over the years. New industrial pipelines and pipeline bridges have also been built on above-ground structures. In addition to pipeline construction, large entities include warehouse construction and machine and equipment investments.
Maintenance of infrastructure and buildings sometimes means repairing a broken manhole cover, sometimes patching asphalt or taking care of snow removal and sanding when winter comes. Elo does some of the condition assessments himself, but most of the time, the condition assessments and related detailed investigations are done by an external partner.
Because there are a lot of balls in the air, and in order for the work to be completed on schedule, it is important to prioritize the work, according to Juho Elo.
– Safety is the number one priority in everything we do
PROJECT ENGINEER JUHO ELO
– I have also made it a principle that, if possible, the work should be done in advance. You should never leave work until the last minute, because then pressure starts to build up if the work piles up. My work is made easier by the fact that we have reliable and competent partners. They know the operating environment of the port, which above all improves work safety. Here, we work with large machines and equipment and deal with chemicals, and because of that, safety is the number one priority in everything we do.
, who is from Mynämäki, Southwest Finland, started working for Port of Kokkola 7 years ago. Before that, he worked as a mechanical maintenance coordinator at Yara Finland’s potassium sulphate plant in the Kokkola Industrial Park.
– I graduated as a production economy engineer from Rauma Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in 2004. After that, I studied to become a Bachelor of Business Administration while working, so that I could gain more know-how in cost accounting. I moved to Kokkola in pursuit of a woman. My wife is from Kokkola, and we lived together in Rauma and Salo. I have had a really good time both at my job and at Kokkola. The atmosphere in Central Ostrobothnia is more open than in Southwest Finland and Satakunta.
- Free time is spent almost entirely on the children’s ice hockey hobby. My son plays for the Hermes U15 team in the second ice hockey division, Mestis, and my daughter plays for four clubs, of which Hermes is the main club. The car accumulates a commendable amount of kilometres, Elo laughs.
Juho Elo is involved in projects from planning until he saves the documents of the completed project for posterity.
An oasis on the sea voyage
The Kokkola Seamen’s Church has reopened its doors to seafarers and workers of the Kokkola port community after a break of almost a couple of years. For seafarers, The Seamen’s Church means, above all, a refreshing oasis on a long sea voyage.
TheSeamen’s Church port chaplain Jonna Kas-
tell-Klapuri drives seafarers, who have arrived at the port of Kokkola, to shops in the centre of Kokkola, offers coffee and blueberry pie in the Seamen’s Church, acts as a local guide and is a conversation partner whenever someone needs it.
– The work is really versatile and absorbing. Here, you temporarily live in your own international bubble, where the current world political situation can be seen in many ways, says Kastell-Klapuri, who started working at Kokkola’s Seamen’s Church last March.
You can only guess how important it can be, that after weeks spent at sea, the ship’s crew members have the opportunity to relax and think about something else at the Seamen’s Church.
– The feedback from seafarers is sometimes overflowing, and they often have many and all kinds of questions. They are interested in Finland and Finnishness as well as in our reputation as the happiest nation in the world. The heating of houses is a very interesting subject for discussions, and for example Filipinos wonder about Finns construction houses of wood; don’t termites eat at our houses?
A LARGE PART of the encounters take place on ships.
– I look for the arriving ships from the list of ships and from the Ship Visitor application, which maps ship visits;
I can see the last ports the ship has visited. On ships, the cook often act as the contact person, and in the short time available things can be discussed in great depth with a member of the crew, sometimes wiping a tear from the corner of the eye.
In the past, people came to the Seamen’s Church to exchange money and make the long-awaited payphone call to the family across the ocean. Now Kastell-Klapuri helps seafarers to acquire prepaid subscriptions of Finnish telecom operators, which enable them to communicate with home over the Internet.
– I serve each customer to the best of my ability, and my job is also to inform about the sanctions that currently limit the possibility of certain nationalities to make tax free purchases in the country.
The Seamen’s Church in Kokkola operates in the General Port in a historic house that was built in the mid-19th century and is owned by the Port of Kokkola. Once it served as the official residence of the harbour captain.
– As a counterbalance to the cramped cabins on board the ships, here the ceiling is high and there is plenty of space. Last late winter, the open fire in my masonry stove was a great thing. In addition to coffee
A sailor’s chest made of Chinese camphor wood, donated by the relatives of seafarer Olavi Kärkkäinen, contains a lot of interesting things, from the nearly 5-meter long python skin to hats, lamps and pipes.
The port chaplain helps seafarers with many kinds of everyday practical matters and also acts as a local guide.
and refreshments, one can buy souvenirs here, and for some, the fact that they can play a relaxed game of billiards is many times enough, says Kastell-Klapuri.
THE ATMOSPHERE at the Seamen’s Church is international, as customers from dozens of different nationalities visit during the year. There are many Filipinos among the crew members, but according to Kastell-Klapur, even more than half of the encounters take place in Russian with people from, for example, Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics and Bulgaria. Seafarers from Holland, Germany, Ethiopia, China, Vietnam, India, Syria, Egypt, Peru, Surinam and Cape Verde have also visited the church.
– Conversations with seafarers representing differ-
Port chaplain Jonna Kastell-Klapuri also welcomes the local workers of the Kokkola port community to the Seamen’s Church.
On the shelf in the quiet room of Seamen’s Church, you can find Bibles or parts of them in 25 different languages.
ent cultures have taught me, at least, that things in world politics are not always black and white. Despite the political situation in the world being what it is, I have to be everyone’s friend and face each person as they are, regardless of nationality, religion or political views.
– For me, the most important thing in my work is meeting people and when meeting them, taking each customer’s starting point into account. We don’t have any specific agenda that we push, but the Seamen’s Church’s mission is to support and promote people’s mental and spiritual well-being based on Christian deaconry and hospitality. I also wish every customer a blessing, because who else would do it if not we, says Kastell-Klapuri.
Finnish Seamen’s Church 150 years next year
Finnish Seamen’s Church was founded in 1875 to help Finnish sailors in foreign ports. Work in Finnish ports began in the early 20th century. Migrants who moved abroad from Finland, i.e. expatriate Finns, have also been involved in the activities since the foundation of the association.
The association defines its mission, based on the Christian faith and deaconry, to support and promote the mental and spiritual well-being of Finns and seafarers abroad.
The Seamen’s Church in Kokkola started when the Ykspihlaja harbour mission was established in 1931. There had probably been some kind of seamen’s home or reading room in the port before. The reading hall of the Finnish Seamen’s Missionary Society (from 1994 the Finnish Seamen’s Church) was completed in Kokkola in 1937.
