Plans drawn up for ferry connection from Kotka to Estonia

Russian island of Suursaari is hoped to be opened as intermediate port

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Plans have been drawn up to open a ferry connection from the Finnish city of Kotka to the Estonian port of Sillamäe, close to the town of Narva. Talks on the project will continue today, Thursday, as the Estonian representatives arrive in Kotka.
      The ferry connection is scheduled to be opened in the spring of 2006. The matters are slightly complicated by the plans to include the Russian island of Suursaari as an intermediate port.
      Suursaari was one of the eastern territories that Finland ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of the Continuation War in 1944. For a long time the island was totally closed to outside visitors. At present, landing on the island is possible but complicated, involving special permits from Russian authorities.
     
There have been negotiations about opening Suursaari for tourism for quite some time now. As a reaction to Estonia joining the European Union, Russia withdrew an almost finished agreement. Currently there are talks between the EU and Russia about the practicalities related to border-crossings.
      "At the moment, these talks have stalled. Unfortunately nothing related to Suursaari can be considered a certainty, until it becomes reality", frets Pekka Linnainen, project manager of the ferry connection undertaking.
      Opening Suursaari for ferry passengers would require the establishing of an official frontier crossing point by the Russian government, and a proper harbour.
      Linnainen believes finding funding for the harbour project will not be a problem once the related bureaucracy has been overcome. Depending on the amount of goodwill from the Russian side, the compulsory visas could also be replaced by so-called cruise visas.
      In Kotka, the proposed ferry connection to Estonia is part of a larger project to enliven the old city harbour.
      "There are plans to transform the old harbour area into an events venue offering cultural activities, sports, and education. A ferry connection to Estonia would invigorate the city. Adding a visit to Suursaari into the travel programme would act as an additional enticement", explains Henry Lindelöf, city manager of Kotka.
      Calling in at Suursaari would also avail passengers of duty-free services.
      According to preliminary plans, traffic between Kotka and Sillamäe would commence in May 2006 on the car ferry St. Ola, with a capacity of 400 passengers and 140 cars.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Setback for large-scale tourism plans for former Finnish island of Suursaari (30.4.2004)
  BACKGROUND: Suursaari was once a Finnish paradise island (21.5.2002)

Helsingin Sanomat