News : Finnlines’ Finnish flagged fleet is vital for Finland’s security of supply

Finnlines specializes in freight transport and the main task is to ensure the smooth flow of goods. Finnlines’ extensive line network provides to Finland’s export industry a regular and reliable way into the European market while ensuring the transport of goods from abroad to Finland that is important for the security of supply, according to the company’s release.

Finnlines is a Finnish company and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The Company owns 21 vessels, of which 17 fly the Finnish flag. 70% of the Group’s approximately 1,500 employees are based in Finland. In 2020, Finnlines’ turnover was EUR 484.0 million, 40% of which was created in Finland.

Despite these exceptional times, the whole shipping sector has safeguarded reliable transport links globally between markets and continued to keep essential supply lines open. Likewise, Finnlines has maintained critical sea bridges between Finland and Sweden and between Finland and Continental Europe, Russia and Great Britain as well. Finnlines has a vital role in supporting national exporters and importers. Finnlines has not laid down any services, but operated normally throughout the year and thus ensured the transports of medicines, goods, machinery, components, and other essential goods important to Finland’s security of supply.

Finnlines is a part of the Grimaldi Group, which is one of the world’s largest operators of ro-ro vessels and the largest operator in Europe combining passengers and freight services. As a part of the Group, Finnlines is able to offer liner services to Finnish foreign trade throughout the Grimaldi network. Grimaldi Group is a major operator in the whole EU and maintains the security of supplies across Europe.

Finnlines alone transports more than a third of the one million rubber-tired units, which move annually across Finland’s three main sea bridges, which are Finland–Estonia, Finland–Sweden, and Finland–Germany. In 2020, Finnlines transported over 720,000 cargo units and carried as much as 1,107,000 tons of freight not possible to measure in units.

It is important for societies that also during a pandemic sea transports run as smoothly as they do during normal times. Public aid to maritime actors is needed in a challenging situation when authorities have imposed restrictions that complicate normal operations and market-based operations are at risk. The Finnish Government has acknowledged this and granted aids to shipping operators. Finnlines has been serving loyally the nation without subsidies, without service cuts, and with important sustainable investments in green ships ongoing, while operating and competing against subsidized companies

“Finnlines, as a Finnish company and with its Finnish flagged fleet, has established itself in terms of maritime transport important for the security of supply in Finland. Finnlines is able to provide environmentally friendly services with market terms and without public support. It would be important for the Finnish Government to recognize Finnlines’ role in maintaining the security of supply when granting aids to shipping companies,” says Pippingsköld.

“It is of the utmost importance that the passenger and work-related travel to and from Finland can be normalized in a safe manner as soon as possible. If the Finnish restrictions are more stringent than elsewhere in the EU, the recovery of business operations which is more vital than giving state aid would be unnecessarily prolonged. However, if the state aid continues, alternative ways of support from the State to all shipping companies should be considered, which are more equal, less distortive, cleaner, more viable, and more sustainable than the present one,” says Pippingsköld

Finnlines Plc

Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Bay of Biscay. The Company is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of ro-ro vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as well as Atlantic coast of both North and South America.