Cargo handling at Helsinki Port drops by 8.2% last year

Cargo handling at the Helsinki Airport reduced by 8.2 percent in 2023 compared to the figure of previous year, said the Port of Helsinki in a press release on Wednesday.

A total of 13.9 million tonnes of goods were transported through the Port in 2023. Over the course of the year, the Port had a total of 7,321 ship calls, which was 1.3% lower than in 2022.

The number of passengers travelling through the Port in last year, however, increased by 12.2% percent from the previous year.

“In recent years, we have been living in a drastically changing operating environment, and the year 2023 had two sides for the Port of Helsinki. Our passenger traffic kept recovering, but at the same time, the prospects of cargo traffic grew dark due to the energy crisis and the decline of the general economic situation,” said Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Helsinki Ville Haapasaari.

Most of the goods transported via the Port of Helsinki are unitized cargo for Finland’s foreign trade, cargo transported on lorries, trailers and containers.

In 2023, the amount of unitized cargo was 11.5 million tonnesl. There were a total of 6.3 million tonnes of exports and 5.2 million tonnes of imports.

A total of 644,000 heavy vehicles transported a total of 8.1 million tonnes of goods.

A total of 452,000 TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) of containers were transported and the amount of container cargo in tonnes was 3.4 million.

The Port had 7,177 ship calls by vessels transporting a total of 13.4 million tonnes (-11.3%) of foreign cargo. The number of coastal traffic ship calls was 54 (+86%). These vessels transported a total of 553,000 tonnes (+508%) of cargo.

The number of passengers travelling through the Port of Helsinki kept recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic years, although this increase slowed down towards the end of the year.

The combined total number of passengers in liner and international cruise ship traffic was 9.1 million.

A total of nearly 8.9 million passengers used liner traffic, which was 12.2% more than the previous year. Once again, the most actively used route was that between Helsinki and Tallinn, with a total of 7.2 million passengers.

The Stockholm route was used by 1.5 million and the route between Helsinki and Travemünde by 166,000 passengers.

Helsinki had a total of 90 ship calls in the international cruise season, which was a clear decrease from the previous year.

Still, the number of international cruise visitors remained at the level of the previous summer, as the vessels carried more passengers. All in all, Helsinki was visited by a total of 163,000 international cruise passengers.

“In terms of passenger traffic, our ship routes still have a partial shortage of international tourists, but we believe that Tallinn traffic holds further growth potential. The Stockholm route appears to be picking up steam as well, as Viking Line’s MS Cinderella will return to the Helsinki–Stockholm route in March,” said Haapasaari.

Earlier at the beginning of the year, the authority projected fewer cargo handling in 2023 due to the general weakening of economic outlooks, high inflation, the energy crisis and the reduction of consumer purchasing power.