Finland is the latest country to join the Cape Town Agreement concerning fishing vessel safety, in efforts to bring mandatory safety measures for fishing vessels of 24 m in length and over. The treaty will be enforced one year after at least 22 states, with an aggregate 3,600 fishing vessels of 24 meters in length and over operating on the high seas have expressed their consent to be bound by it.
Port of HaminaKotka recently shake hands with Rauanheimo and inked an agreement in order to expand the Mussalo Bulk Terminal. Namely, through this investment, Rauanheimo will further increase the terminal’s capacity and efficiency.
Finland and Germany submitted a study to the IMO’s Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) sub-committee, in order to be revised during its session scheduled for February. This document presents results of a measurement campaign for the analysis of the impact of fuel oil quality on Black Carbon emissions. The results indicate that new blends of marine fuels with 0.50% sulphur content can contain a large percentage of aromatic compounds, which have a direct impact on Black Carbon emissions.
Finnish research firm VTT announced it developed a technology that solves challenges of emission-free hydrogen technology, combining devices that produce hydrogen from water and electricity from hydrogen into a single movable system that produces hydrogen with an efficiency as high as 80–90%.
Finland informed that the legislation on the delivery of waste from ships to ports will be updated. The aim is to improve the treatment and reception of waste in ports, which will reduce the generation of marine litter and consequently the discharge of plastic into the seas.
Finferries has ordered a new hybrid electric ferry, which will operate on the Föglö route, and operated by Ansgar AB. Traffic on the Åland Föglö route is expected to start on April 1, 2022. The new ferry will be powered mainly by shore-based battery packs and backed up by diesel generators.
The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) has commissioned hydrographic surveys in the Vuoksi river system in eastern Finland to make navigation safer in the region. The work will be partly carried out by airborne surveys.
In line with a growing smart technology trend and as shipping is struggling to keep costs down in order to maintain its competitiveness, as well as to minimize human error to improve its safety record, autonomous ships provide an attractive trend.
Autonomous shipping is making headlines in recent years for its promising potential advantages in the complex maritime environment. A Finnish collaboration, established in 2016, seeks to pave the way for autonomous shipping as early as 2025, validating Nordic countries as the front-runners in the field of automation.
Finnish shipyard Rauma Marine Constructions has begun construction of the world’s most environmentally friendly RoPax vessel for the consortium Kvarken Link, to operate between Vaasa in Finland and Umeå in Sweden. A traditional steel cutting ceremony was held at the shipyard on 16 September.
