The last port pilot in Turku retires
Timo Jokiranta, who has worked at the Port of Turku all his adult life, has functioned like a port information office. He has been asked for advice on almost every aspect: from solving wagers to ship durability – and once, on Christmas night, Jokirantaa was asked to provide company for a lonely shipmaster.
Sometimes, a single wave of the hand can change the direction of a person’s life. That’s what happened in 1987 to newly graduated officer Timo Jokiranta, who had been working summers for the Port of Turku. Prior to that, he had been working on Effoa cargo vessels along their Mediterranean and Caribbean lines, as well as for Silja Line and Viking Line, and he was thinking about soon looking for work at sea. But then Kari Koski, the Harbour Master in Turku, asked if someone was interested in a volunteer traineeship doing the work of a port pilot. Jokiranta’s co-workers glanced over at him: it was an opportunity worth taking.
Jokiranta raised his hand. Soon he was climbing ladders onto ships off of the Pikisaari pilot station and guiding them to the harbour and Turku repair yard on the River Aura. Many ships from the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries were repaired there at that time.
“It was interesting work. The Russian ships had political officers on board to make sure that the crew would not become westernised or defect from the ship”, Jokiranta said.
One of the port services included carrying a landline phone and Turku telephone directory onto ships. The phone line was attached to the bollard.
A lonely shipmaster on Christmas Night
Once, a Russian ship was docking in the River Aura on the night before Christmas Eve. Once the ship was safely moored in the docking area, Jokiranta thought he would head home, but the shipmaster ordered the pilot to come to his cabin.
“Vodka!”, the shipmaster said. Jokiranta understood that it was an invitation to sit and have a drink.
There was no discussion, since the two had no common language. After the drink, the pilot rose to depart.
But the old shipmaster shook his head and pointed at his knee. It was his way of telling the pilot to have one for the other leg as well.
“The shipmaster was an old man and his loneliness was palpable. Shipmasters did not hang around with their crew”, Jokiranta says, adding that he stayed for the second shot before heading home.
The port is like an information agency
After ten years, the work of port pilots was transferred to the State, but Jokiranta remained on land and was promoted to the position of shift manager at the Port of Turku. A wide variety of work experience was gained, the phone was constantly ringing and Jokiranta began to feel like an information agency who could be asked anything.
“At one point, the directory assistance service was connecting calls concerning cruise ship ticketing issues to me in the evenings. People asked what tyres they should have for driving in mainland Europe. Some people called drunk and asked me to settle their bets. My colleague was even forced to calm someone who was considering suicide.
One time, I heard a woman’s soft voice on the line. She whispered that she was hiding from her husband in the other room. The couple were supposed to be leaving for a cruise, but the woman was afraid that the ship might sink if it’s stormy. Her husband had forbidden her from calling anyone to ask about it.
“Don’t worry, Ma’am, it is perfectly safe. Ships this large don’t capsize”, Jokiranta’s deep voice assured from the other end of the line.
A stable workplace
When the Berlin Wall fell, Eastern trade decreased and Russian ships stopped arriving in the Port of Turku. The vessels became larger and unloaded their cargo less frequently.
However, Jokiranta did not leave the Port of Turku. He continued on to work in port surveillance as a shift supervisor for port service traffic and crane operations.
“It proved to be a stable workplace. We had three children and I was better able to participate in their lives since I was working on land. The salary development was at least as good as on ships, and I haven’t been laid off for a single day in 37 years. That’s very rare nowadays.”
At the forefront of development
On the first Advent Sunday this year, Jokiranta will turn off his work phone. The last port pilot is retiring. While there is still an opportunity to interview this wise man from the Port of Turku’s information agency, what advice would he give for future generations?
“You should never just settle for following development but should, rather, be at its forefront. I remember when the discussions about automooring for ships came up. I stated that it wouldn’t work when the sides of the ships were frozen. But automooring has saved a lot of working time and backs, since there is no need to pull the heavy ropes by hand. I think it’s a clever invention.”
In a sense, however, Jokiranta was right. When the winter winds blow from the north at more than 15 m/s, shipmasters call for the use of ropes in addition to the automooring, just to be safe.
Although, despite the plans of his youth, Jokiranta never continued with work on board vessels, he has not missed the sea.
“Now it’s time to be with my grandchildren. Today, for example, I’m picking up my daughter’s child from day care after work”, Jokiranta says with a smile.
Text and photos: Sari Järvinen
