Sörnäinen Harbour will move to Vuosaari overnight on November 24th

West Harbour changeover staggered until end of 2008

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Operations in Helsinki's Sörnäinen Harbour will come to an abrupt end when the harbour moves to Vuosaari after next Sunday. From the beginning of next week all ship traffic to Sompasaari will be directed to the new purpose-built Vuosaari Harbour instead.
      The harbour in Sompasaari was part of everyday life in Helsinki’s working-class district of Sörnäinen for 145 years. The sentiments are somewhat bittersweet. Today’s stevedores will miss Sompasaari’s relaxed atmosphere.
     
When the Sörnäinen Harbour was opened in 1863 it was immediately connected to the railway network. This was the first harbour in Finland where ship cargo could be directly unloaded onto railway carriages and vice versa. The opening of the St. Petersburg track in 1970 further boosted the harbour’s importance.
      In the early days, timber and other forestry products in particular were transported through the harbour. The oil business came into the picture in 1889. For fire safety reasons, however, the oil harbour was moved to Herttoniemi in 1938.
      In the 1950s Sörnäinen underwent considerable expansion and was familiar for the ror-ro and ro-pax vessels such as Finnhansa and Finnpartner, plying routes to Central Europe.
     
Of late, the harbour has mainly been used by trailer trucks. Trucks leave their trailers in the harbour, from where they are loaded onto ships by a fleet of terminal tractors.
      Moving the harbour functions to Vuosaari is not a minor operation. Among other things, a couple of hundred machines on wheels, cranes, and other equipment will be transported there by sea from Sörnäinen.
      And that is not all. The area’s tenant Finnsteve will then demolish its own harbour buildings. For example the tearing down of a gigantic 15,000-square-metre warehouse will cost the company millions of euros.
     
Soon, only memories will remain of the once buzzing Sörnäinen Harbour.
      The rail tracks leading to the docks will be torn up. The harbour will be replaced by a business and residential area called Kalasatama (Fishing Harbour), the construction of which will begin next year.
      A similar closing down process will also be taking place at the West Harbour, though this is to be carried out more gradually, such that all container traffic through the port is moved east to Vuosaari by the end of this year.
      Once again, the procedure will be followed by urban redevelopment of what are assumed to be highly desirable waterfront sites in the centre of the capital.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Vuosaari harbour transport needs could cause major traffic jams on Ring Road (13.12.2007)

See also:
  Construction of quays proceeds in Vuosaari Harbour (28.5.2007)
  Fairway to Vuosaari Harbour completed (20.5.2008)

Links:
  Vuosaari Harbour project web service

Helsingin Sanomat