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KOKKOLANSATAMAOY:N SIDOSRYHMÄLEHTI2/2021 PORTOFKOKKOLANEWSLETTER FOR CUSTOMERS ANDINTERESTEDPARTIES1/2025

Container traffic is growing significantly

Port of Kokkola Newsletter for customers and interested parties

CHIEF EDITOR:

Torbjörn Witting

EDITORIAL STAFF:

Jorma Uusitalo

LAYOUT: Olli Ilmanen/WTF Design

PRINTED IN: Waasa Graphics Oy PHOTOS:

Jorma Uusitalo

Clas-Olav Slotte Port of Kokkola

COVER PHOTO:

Wallenius Sol’s Peyton Lynn C container ship in the Silverstone Port for the first time in January. PHOTO: CLAS -OLAV SLOTTE

Our journey continues in the anniversary year – Thank you to our customers and partners

In the first Action Port publication of the year, it is appropriate to summarize the past year. The year 2024 was very significant for Port of Kokkola, and specifically in a positive sense, as the operating year underlined our role as an enabler. It is no coincidence that the components of Finland’s largest onshore wind farm are currently passing through the Port of Kokkola. We became a serious negotiation partner for managing the project’s port logistics because we already had port infrastructure in place, which could be quickly tailored to meet the needs of this massive operation.

Our role as an enabler is based on the long-term work carried out by the port’s excellent team year after year. Especially over the past 25 years, the port has expanded into the sea and renewed port logistics areas covering a total of approximately 110 hectares, of which over 75 hectares are ready and operational port logistics areas in our three ports. Another 35 hectares are development areas that we can quickly convert into port logistics areas based on customer needs. Any expansion is preceded by careful planning and other preparations, such as finding the best way to combine rail, road, and sea transport into an efficient port logistics operation and smoothly navigating environmental and water construction permit processes. The actual construction involves building foundations over 10 meters deep. Structural layers extend about 3.5 meters above the waterline, with fill depths of 13-14 meters in the above-mentioned extensive port logistics areas. In addition, we are investing in docks, cranes, and warehouses. All of the above is a key part of the shared playing field between port logistics and heavy industry, where large-scale industries can bring raw materials from abroad and export their products competitively through the Port of Kokkola. The green transition is advancing rapidly, which is why the Port of Kokkola must be ready to serve growing industries such as hydrogen production, as well as the massive aluminum plant planned for Kokkola.

Growth and highreliability of supply

In addition to wind power transport, container traffic at the Port of Kokkola grew strongly last year, by over 30 percent. The growth was driven by both large-scale industry in the KIP area and other contain er traffic operators.

Sometimes various external factors challenge the re liability of delivery even at ports, as was the case last year. Even at those times, however, we were able to guarantee the smooth operation of port logistics and the continuity of freight traffic.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our customers and good partners for the past year. I am pleased to say that we gained more new customers and partners during the year. I really appreciate the trust you have once again shown in us.

I dare to promise that the year that has just begun will also offer a lot of interesting things. Not least because it is the 200th anniversary of the port of Kokkola. And that’s quite a milestone!

TORBJÖRN WITTING CEO Port of Kokkola Ltd.

Yara’s iron oxide to the world from Kokkola’s Deep Port

Iron oxide is being loaded into vessels in the Deep Port the capacity of which is also used for the needs of Yara.

Port of Kokkola Ltd and Yara Suomi Oy have signed an agreement regarding Yara Siilinjärvi iron oxide transports via Kokkola’s Deep Port. The contract is for 4 years, with two additional year-long options. The service is scheduled to start in early winter.

Torbjörn Witting, CEO of Port of Kokkola, is very pleased with the solution from Yara, one of the Port’s largest customers, which brings additional income and strengthens employment in the port.

– In recent years, the utilization rates of both the General Port and Silverstone Port have been at their peak. Due to the geopolitical situation, capacity has been widely available in the Deep Port, and now we are able to increasingly utilize it, Witting states.

Yara Siilinjärvi iron oxide has been exported to the world through the port of Kokkola before, but for various reasons the transports have been suspended.

– We have a customized port infrastructure with efficient tracks and production machinery ready to receive all trains arriving from Siilinjärvi. The particular strengths of the port of Kokkola also include extensive storage facilities, deep-water berths and crane capacity. It is expected that thanks to the deep channel, iron oxide will also be picked up by the largest ships sailing to Finland.

JYRKI FURU, Logistics Manager at Yaran’s Siilinjärvi factories, says that there are many reasons in favour of transportation via the port of Kokkola.

– Yara Finland and Port of Kokkola have been collaborating for a long time and we have been satisfied

with it. Port of Kokkola has the ability to respond to the customer’s changing needs, and the port is able to handle a wide range of our company’s products, such as fertilizers and various acids in addition to iron oxide. In addition, thanks to the deepwater channel, large ships also operate in Kokkola. Furu refers to Panamax and Capesize vessels used to transport iron oxide to Asia. Some of the iron oxide is exported to Europe on smaller ships.

According to Furu, in the case of the port of Kokkola, supply chains are of great importance.

– We get really efficient supply chains via railways. For example, a wagon rotation can be done in 24 hours, while in many other cases the wagon rotation takes two days. The Iisalmi-Kokkola section is now fully electrified, which significantly reduces the carbon footprint of our products. The port operators Rauanheimo and Valtavirta in Siilinjärvi, as well as VR Transpoint, are also an integral part of this highly refined supply chain.

IN THE PAST COUPLE of years, iron oxide transports have amounted to 250,000-300,000 tons. The market situation will affect tonnage, but Furu estimates that transport volumes may double.

Iron oxide is a by-product of Yara’s Siilinjärvi factories. It is formed when pyrite from the Pyhäsalmi mine is burned in sulfuric acid production. From the port of Kokkola, iron oxide is mainly transported as a raw material for the steel industry. Circular economy, such as the utilization of side streams, is one of Yara’s areas of strategic focus.

A documentary about the port will be shown on large and small screens across the city during the anniversary year.

Port of Kokkola 200 years

The year 2025 will be the 200th anniversary of the Port of Kokkola. Throughout its history, the port has been a central part of the development of the city of Kokkola. At the same time, it has served as a gateway to the world for companies engaged in international trade. Therefore, it is natural that the anniversary year will be visible in many ways to both the people of Kokkola and the customers of Port of Kokkola.

–The port exists for its customers and the people of Kokkola. The port enables the export and import of the industry in the KIP area and, as a national port, serves various mines and industrial production in Central Finland. The port thus directly and indirectly employs a large number of city residents. The fees

that Port of Kokkola Ltd pays to its owner, the City of Kokkola, are also significant. Last year, the total amount of payments was 2.5 million euros, and since 2015, as a limited company, we have paid a total of 24.4 million euros in payments to the city owner, Torbjörn Witting, CEO of Port of Kokkola, explains the importance of the port to the vitality of his area.

Preparations for the port’s anniversary year started well in advance, and a wide variety of events are scheduled for the anniversary year.

– We wanted to bring the port to the city for the city’s residents to see by producing a documentary

Members of the Erikoistietotoimisto ETT have done a great job putting together a photo exhibition in honour of the port’s 200th anniversary. Pictured are ETT members Tapio Kaunisto (left), Kari Känsälä, Jukka Perttula and Markku Kääntä.

In the picture is Hemming Renlund, who could not join at the time of the photo.

about the port, which can be watched during the anniversary year on a giant screen, first until the second week of March next to the city library and in the summer at the Market Square. In addition, the documentary will be shown on smaller screens, for example in the leisure centre, HalpaHalli, Port Tower and City Hall.

– During the anniversary year, a container gantry crane purchased by Port of Kokkola will also be inaugurated. In addition to visits by school children, guided tours in the port will be organized in connection with the evening markets in the summer. We will celebrate the main celebration in August, and on September 18-19, the Finnish Ports Association’s Port Days will be held in Kokkola to celebrate our anniversary. Witting lists examples of the content of the anniversary year. A photo exhibition has also been put together about the port’s history, and a history book celebrating the anniversary will be published at the end of the year. Practically every month there is an interesting event related to the anniversary.

THE ANNIVERSARY PHOTO EXHIBITION opens up the history of the Port of Kokkola and the Ykspihlaja district in a fascinating way. The exhibition will be set up in the Kallentori shopping centre in the centre of Kokkola for the summer and will be open until the

end of September. The exhibition is being implemented by the Erikoistietotoimisto ETT, in partnership with the Port of Kokkola, which has selected approximately 260-270 photographs from nearly 4,000 images for the actual exhibition.

– We are very happy and satisfied to have been given this assignment. We have previously put together a similar exhibition, for example in honour of the 400th anniversary of the city of Kokkola. This time, too, there was no need to attract the authors. We have been very pleased to have Hemming Renlund join us, who has been a trusted member of the Port for a long time. Renlund has a huge amount of knowledge and a wealth of contacts, which has been a big help, says Tapio Kaunisto, who has been putting together the exhibition for over a year.

According to him, the photo exhibition primarily depicts the change and growth of the Port of Kokkola throughout its history.

– At first there was only one quay, from which the port began to expand, as did Ykspihlaja. An interesting era began in 1895, when the Friis brothers founded a machine shop in Ykspihlaja, which employed up to 600 workers, most of whom lived in the area.

As many images as possible featuring people have been selected for the exhibition, and the content of the images will also be revealed to viewers with subtitles.

The cargo of zinc concentrate brought from Alaska to Kokkola by YM Opus was unloaded from the cargo holds in the Deep Port.

A distant guest from Alaska

The community of port of Kokkola can already look forward to the once-a-year zinc concentrate transport from Alaska to Boliden’s factory in Kokkola. This time, the zinc concentrate was transported to the Deep Port by the Panamax-sized vessel M/S YM Opus. It took approximately one week to discharge the zinc concentrate from the vessel’s big cargo hold into the warehouses.

As the evening darkens, the harbour cranes in the Deep Port work steadily and simultaneously, grab by crab, to discharge the cargo of zinc concentrate from the hold of YM Opus. The atmosphere in the crew quarters of the vessel is calm. The whole crew numbers 20-persons, all from the Philippines. Some crew members are busy doing maintenance work, some are resting, and some may already have had a chance to

First Officer Jayson A. Palado

travelled with the zinc concentrate cargo the entire way from Alaska to Kokkola and recounted the stages of the journey to Harbor Master Tomas Mikkola.

explore the city of Kokkola, guided by an employee from the Seamen’s Church.

Rest and maintenance are required, as the ship has a long, incredibly long sea voyage behind it from Alaska, USA, to South America, via the Strait of Magellan, sailing across the Atlantic to Europe.

The Strait of Magellan, which links the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is 570 kilometres long and only two kilometres wide at its narrowest point.

First Officer Jayson A. Palado travelled on the ship the entire way from Alaska to Kokkola. Captain Joel S. Saballa joined YM Opus in Antwerp, Belgium, where he began his assignment which will last for 9 months.

– The zinc concentrate was loaded onto the ship using barges on the anchorage, where we had to spend no less than 24 days due to bad weather. Because the queues at the Panama Canal were really long, we sailed through the Strait of Magellan. The weather conditions on the trip were quite harsh at times, especially at the Chilean latitudes and later in the Bay of Biscay, Jayson A. Palado says.

IN TOTAL, YM Opus’ voyage with zinc concentrate cargo took 4 months from Alaska to the port of Kokkola. The longest continuous period, 5 weeks, that the ship ploughed only open seas, was the voyage from the port of Long Beach, California, to Antwerp.

– I boarded the ship in Antwerp, but I know from previous experience that during those 5 weeks the crew had plenty of time to sing karaoke and have a

(right)

Captain Joel S. Saballa of the YM Opus is used to months-long assignments on ocean-going ships, but now he is dreaming of a job where he can spend more time with his family.

barbecue many times, Captain Joel S. Saballa laughs.

In Kokkola, the crew had a week to take the opportunity to enjoy the Nordic winter landscape during which the hold was emptied and cleaned, and then the voyage towards the next destination lay ahead. At the time of the interview, the destination was not yet known.

– Finland wasn’t completely foreign to me. My aunt was married to a Finn, and I have visited Kotka once myself. In this job, you see a lot of beautiful nature, and I also knew to expect the cold temperatures. The cold doesn’t bother me because I can cope by dressing properly. I hope I have time to take pictures of your beautiful city, the captain says.

Joel S. Saballa began his career on board a ship as a regular crew member twenty years ago. He considers the best part of his job to be the versatility. We spend long periods of time at sea, so our psyche must be strong, and good food is also something that is of great importance to the well-being of the crew.

– However, the starting point for everything is safety and human health, because we will be away from land for long periods of time. Nature sometimes shows its wild side. The waves can sometimes be so huge that when they hit the main deck, even a large ship such as ours feels small. If you know your ship, you know its limits, but sometimes in heavy storms you have to pray that the engine will not fail.

The YM Opus vessel is 229 meters long, 33 meters wide, and it is 10 years old.

NOW, 49 YEARS OLD Joel S. Saballa dreams of working as a harbour captain. Above all, because then he would have more time for his family.

– After my wife died, I was left with the custody of our three children, but fortunately my mother was able to take care of them while I was at sea. The youngest of the children is 15 and the oldest is 26. The youngest is very interested in working on ships. I’ve told him that this is a tough job, but if he chooses a job on a ship, I won’t object. The main thing is that he is happy.

At home in the Philippines, the captain has a 4-hectare coconut plantation waiting for him.

– While I’m at sea, my older brother takes care of the farm. Growing coconut trees is really relaxing and a good counterbalance to months of working on board of a ship.

Jorma Harju, Production Director of Boliden Kokkola (left) and Ville Kattilakoski, Manager of the smelter and sulfuric acid plant; in the background is the conveyor system that transports the zinc concentrate from the ships to the warehouses.

A week of unloading work, finally an excavator is placed into the hold

Jorma Harju, Production Director of Boliden Kokkola has for over 10 years been involved in various ways in the shipping operations of the factory. Throughout that time, a large shipment of zinc concentrate has come from Alaska once a year, usually in late summer or autumn.

– This transport is characterized by the large size of the ship, which affects storage. We only take a small lot of zinc concentrate into our own warehouse, and the largest part goes to the Port’s warehouse, from where we take out the amount that we plan to use each month, Harju says.

YM OPUS, which arrived from Alaska, was up to ten times larger than the ships that usually transport zinc concentrate to Kokkola. The typical ship size is 5,0006,000 tons. If it takes one working day to discharge a conventional zinc concentrate ship, a cargo arriving from Alaska takes a whole week to discharge.

– The actual discharging of cargo is more an activity that Rauanheimo is in charge of. Our staff mainly monitors the operation of the conveyor system and ensures that the zinc concentrate goes to the correct warehouse and to the desired location there.

The ships arriving from Alaska are so large that the port cranes cannot reach every corner of the cargo hold. Therefore, in the final stages of the unloading work, an excavator is placed into the ship to pile up the zinc concentrate on the edges of the hold within reach of the shore cranes.

BOLIDEN KOKKOLA is a significant customer for Port of Kokkola from both an import and export perspective.

– Boliden Kokkola’s annual production is approximately 300,000 tons of zinc, and zinc concentrate contains half of that zinc. That means we need to import 600,000 tons of zinc concentrate per year, Harju says. When the company’s products that are shipped to Europe via the Port of Kokkola are added to the previous figures, the total volume exceeds 800,000 tons, which represents a large part of the port’s total traffic. In addition to zinc concentrate and zinc products, Boliden Kokkola imports and exports sulfuric acid through the port.

first time when han

Additional efficiency and capacity for container traffic

Wallenius Sol has expanded its container transport offering with a Lift-on, Lift-off (LoLo) service, when the shipping company’s Peyton Lynn C container ship arrived at Silverstone Port for the first time in January.

The vessel has a capacity of 860 TEU and operates the route between Kokkola, Rotterdam and Antwerp every two weeks. In addition to the line now in operation, Wallenius Sol’s ConRo vessel Baltic Enabler has been arriving into Kokkola weekly since 2021.

– The new container line will bring more capacity to container traffic and open up new destinations globally for Port of Kokkola’s customers. Another significant new player in container traffic is Ocean Network Express (ONE), which also offers new global connections for imports and exports, says Anssi Martinmäki, Commercial Manager of Port of Kokkola. In addition to ONE, two other container shipping companies operate in the port of Kokkola; Hapaq-Lloyd and MSC.

PORT OF KOKKOLA’S competitiveness in container traffic is also increased by the STS crane acquired last year, which was properly put into use in February. The size of container ships is constantly increasing, and this large container crane with 17 container rows is an excellent response to this development.

– In the future, the Baltic Enabler will be unloaded and loaded more efficiently with two cranes, an STS crane and a robust Gottwald harbor crane. The handling of smaller container ships will also be significantly more efficient when the Peyton Lynn C vessel will be handled using the STS in the future, which is up to twice as efficient as before.

The container traffic complex also includes the extensive field areas of Silverstone Port with its warehouses. According to Martinmäki, Port of Kokkola is a competitive alternative for an increasingly container traffic customers, such as the mechanical forest industry.

The STS crane acquired by the Port of Kokkola was put into real action for the

dling containers from the Peyton Lynn C vessel in January.

A super year for wind power logistics

The year 2024 was a super year for wind power logistics at the port of Kokkola. In projects implemented under the leadership of Port of Kokkola, over a thousand land transports left Silverstone Port during the year to the Lestijärvi and Sandbacka wind farms.

To the layman, sporting events seem easy when they are performed by experienced professionals. The same is true of wind power logistics. A ship carrying wind power components arrives at the port, where the components are lifted off the ship and transported to the wind farm. In the big picture, it seems very simple, but the reality is something completely different.

the projects to each focus on their own core competencies.

– And we should not forget the contribution of each individual employee who has been involved in these projects. Their attitude and commitment are a big part of the success, Roukala emphasizes.

THE PORT OF KOKKOLA are now reaping the rewards of the enabling measures taken before the start of wind power logistics.

– There are over 15 hectares of port fields, in addition to which we have acquired two 150-ton cranes and invested in warehouses.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

JYRKI ROUKALA

Jyrki Roukala, Development Manager at Port of Kokkola, is pleased to sum up the excellent year for wind power logistics. According to him, success in demanding projects can be largely explained by the operating model used in Kokkola. In practice, the operating model means that in wind energy projects, project management and responsibility for the whole project lies with Port of Kokkola, which allows the different actors implementing

The facilities of the Silverstone Port, such as extensive port fields and crane capacity, enable efficient port logistics services also for wind power builders.

– One thing is, of course, the deep-sea channel, which enables large ships to sail to Kokkola. Construction of the infrastructure at the Silverstone Port began in 2009 and is progressing well. There are over 15 hectares of port fields, in addition to which we have acquired two 150-ton cranes and invested in warehouses. An important part of the whole is the special transport route implemented by Port of Kokkola, which runs from the port through the large industrial area and urban area to the exit roads. It required a lot of work from us and seek solutions with several different parties, says Jyrki Roukala.

In addition to circumstances, the success of individual projects is based on careful planning that begins early enough. In the case of Lestijärvi, Roukala talks about about a year of preparation before the first transport headed from Silverstone Port towards Lestijärvi.

The Lestijärvi project will continue into 2025, and in total it will involve approximately 1,100 special transports of wind turbine components. Port logistics, i.e. the unloading of wind turbine components from ships and their storage in the port area, are handled in cooperation by Port of Kokkola and the transport company Ville Silvasti Oy, with Rauanheimo acting as the Port’s partner. In addition, Silvasti transports the components to the wind farm in Lestijärvi.

– We have developed a good team for this entity, with strong expertise in their own areas of responsibility. From a project management perspective, the train has, so to speak, been running smoothly and efficiently on its tracks. Only minor adjustments have been made along the way.

THE SUPER YEAR demonstrated many aspects that strengthen the position of the Port of Kokkola as a reliable operator in wind power logistics, according to Jyrki Roukala,.

– The division of labour and tasks, or organizational model, proved to be the right one in these large-scale projects. The work was managed in such a way that cooperation at the port sites went really well. We have ample storage capacity, which enabled us to store tower parts for over 30 wind turbines simultaneously in the Silverstone Port.

– We have developed a good team for this entity, with strong expertise in their own areas of responsibility.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

JYRKI ROUKALA

– After these projects, it will also be easier for us to scale onshore wind power projects according to needs. At the same time, this has prepared us for the offshore era, meaning we have the prerequisites to overcome new challenges.

Roukala cites the Caribbean Harmony ship as a good example, which brought tower parts for the wind turbines to be erected at the Sandbacka wind farm to Kokkola in one go. 70 tower parts were dismantled from the ship as planned over four days last October.

Roukala reminds us that we should not forget the employment impact of wind power logistics. Wind power logistics is not just about unloading cargo and shipping components, as a lot of human labour is also needed in the preparation prior to road transport.

Approximately 1,100 special transports of wind turbine components will depart from the Silverstone Port for the wind power park being built in Lestijärvi.

EU funding accelerates the development of Port of Kokkola

In its Power-4-Future project, Port of Kokkola is spending 9 million euros on the development of the General Port and the Silverstone Port (pictured).

The ongoing Power-4-Future project of Port of Kokkola is creating conditions for, among other things, offshore wind power construction and rail transport development. The 3 million euro investment grant granted by the European Union for the project strengthens the position of the port of Kokkola as a significant general port and an enabler of the green transition.

Inits Power-4-Future project, Port of Kokkola is spending 10 million euros on the development of the General Port and the Silverstone Port. The project includes three investment projects: extending the Silverstone quay by 120 meters, constructing new field areas in the Silverstone Port, and constructing additional railway tracks.

Part of the funding will be used retroactively for investments already made in the Silverstone Port. In addition, the package includes planning funding for the renovation of the General Port waterfront and the construction of a ro-ro ramp.

– The Power-4-Future project, with its EU funding, is significant because it helps us develop the port of Kokkola as a general port that serves customers in a wide range of areas, from project and container transport to bulk traffic, says Tapio Lampinen, Technical Manager of Port of Kokkola. He is the project manager of the Power-4-Future project.

THE IMPLEMENTATION of the investments included in the project and the preparation of plans have advanced considerably. The Silverstone quay ex-

tension was completed in the winter of 2021, and the new port fields, covering almost 4 hectares, are also ready. All that remains to be done is the asphalting of a 2.5-hectare port field, for which funds have been allocated for the coming summer.

– After this, the Silverstone Port will have a total of approximately 15 hectares of field areas, which will offer us the opportunity to receive and store offshore wind power components, for example, says Tapio Lampinen.

For this summer 0.7 million euros are reserved in the budget that will be used for the construction of two parallel train tracks. The track section will be 350 meters long. Thanks to construction of the tracks, the storage capacity can be increased and storage and transportation can be moved to covered indoor spaces, which will reduce dust pollution.

Design funding has been used for the planning of the renovation works of the General Port jetty and the construction of a ro-ro ramp.

According to Tapio Lampinen, the Power-4-Future project and the EU funding received for it have been a significant investment in the development of the port.

In the Silverstone Port, 2024 was a super year for wind power logistics and in addition to that an increase of more than 30 percent in the container traffic was recorded.

EU funding was directed to Port of Kokkola through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The CEF program supports transport projects on the TEN-T network.

The Wonderful World of Aranda

On the Finnish Environment Institute’s research vessel Aranda, people live in their own fascinating bubble. It has been said of Aranda that it sails the shoreless sea without ever arriving in port. ” For us, destinations are not ports, but virtual points on the map.”, says Aranda’s Captain Thord Vaenerberg.

Ofcourse, Aranda also visits ports, such as on its winter voyage in January, when the ship docked for a few hours at the Silverstone Port quay in Kokkola. The vessel makes four longer monitoring trips each year, which are part of the Baltic Sea monitoring program coordinated by the Baltic Sea Protection Commission.

Thord Vaenerberg introduces Aranda in more detail on the ship’s bridge and tells us what life is like on a research vessel, where work is done 24/7, and weekends and Sundays are not distinguished from the the everyday.

The Aranda vessel has, among other things, several different laboratory facilities.

– When a standard ship leaves for Europe, it arrives at the next port a few days later. For us, destinations are virtual points on a map, and for example, on a fishing trip in the autumn, we are usually at sea for three weeks straight.

ARANDA has a seagoing crew of 13, and in addition, there are berths for up to 27 researchers in the cabins. There is a gym and sauna on the ship, but in practice the only social space is the mess hall. People spend time there, eat, and hold meetings.

The international dimension is part of the everyday life of a research vessel, as in addition to domestic experts, there may be personnel from foreign universities and research institutes on the voyage. According to Vaenerberg, the community on the ship is close-knit, and the team has a good spirit.

Aranda

The changing weather adds its own spice to Aranda’s everyday life. Vaenerberg has been sailing in the Baltic Sea since 1989, and during that time the weather conditions have changed. There are more storms and less ice.

– Aranda can handle rough seas and difficult conditions, but it’s not very comfortable in a storm, as the ship rocks quite a bit, the captain laughs. Scientists can ease their discomfort in the middle of a storm with nausea patches, but the crew does not have that option.

THE ICE-STRENGTHENED Aranda, equipped with a lowering keel, is 66 meters long, over 13 meters wide and sails at a depth of about 5 meters. The ship, which was completed in 1989, was renovated in 2018, when it was extended by six meters, among other things.

When conducting research, the vessel must be nimble and agile to control. The propeller system is diesel-electric, and Aranda, for example, has two 400 kilowatt bow thrusters, one of which can rotate 360 degrees.

– In addition, Aranda has an unclassified Dynamic Positioning equipment, a so-called sky anchor. DP equipment is very essential in research work, because in monitoring the same samples are taken at the same observation points. Under normal conditions, the DP equipment keeps the ship in place with an accuracy of one meter, but in the Gulf of Finland we have not always been able to do this recently due to GPS interference, says Thord Vaenerberg.

LABORATORIES and samplers are a feature of the ship. Aranda collects information about the sea, i.e. how its physics, chemistry and biology, works, and the state of the marine environment. This information can be used as a basis for decisions, for example when various parties are considering measures aimed at improving the state of the Baltic Sea.

The Aranda of the Finnish Environment Institute is a modern, versatile research vessel for marine studies.

Thanks to well-equipped laboratories and data processing systems, samples can be analysed and results processed during the trip. To minimize vibration and noise, a floating floor has been installed in the research facilities.

– What motivates me most about this work is that you get to see the entire chain, from when experts take samples and analyse them on machines, after which the data is processed into reports for various forums, which then hopefully make decisions that improve the state of the Baltic Sea, said the trip leader, Pekka Kotilainen, Senior Researcher from the Finnish Environment Institute, about his role in Aranda.

Thord Vaenerberg serves as the captain of the Aranda vessel.