Tallink Silja is getting excited to move

The new passenger terminal in the port of Turku has been looking impressive and ready for business for some time already, but moving day is not quite yet upon us. There is still a fair bit of work to be done on the inside, which does not show from the outside.

Meanwhile, in the terminal building next door, the excitement for moving day is building. Juho Jäntti, Terminal Manager for Tallink Silja in Turku, admits that his own team is already itching to move into its new premises.

Jäntti points out that the old Silja terminal building, completed in 1972, is already more than 50 years old. It has long served faithfully, but as a representative of its era, its functionality is not optimal for the conditions and needs of the 2020s.

“We have a huge check-in area with service desks here, even though we no longer have the same need for them. People use the automated check-in service on their own these days”, Jäntti says as one example.

Another example is security. The security requirements for the port terminal are quite different in the 2020s than they were in the 1970s.

“Our current terminal did not originally have a security gate system. It was built at a time when people were pretty much able to freely walk out beside the ship to wave it off”, Jäntti compares.

Tallink Silja will be the first to move

The schedule for the port project states that Tallink Silja will be the first shipping company to move into the new terminal in March 2027.

“When we move to the new terminal and remove all our stuff from the current Silja terminal, the City will demolish this building and a quay will be built in its place for Viking Line’s ship. Only then, in 2028 as I understand it, will Viking Line get the green light to move to the joint terminal”, Jäntti says.

Jäntti is convinced that Tallink Silja and Viking Line will work well side-by-side in the joint terminal, even though they are competitors.

“We are already working alongside Viking Line and Eckerö Lines in a joint terminal in Helsinki and the Åland Islands. I don’t anticipate any problems”, Jäntti states.

One might imagine that the docking, berth and loading areas as well as the terminal building would become crowded when two shipping companies, along with their separate ships and operations, are operating in a much smaller area. Jäntti explains why this is unlikely to be the case.

“The timetables for Tallink Silja and Viking Line ships in Turku are based on the reception capacity of the port fairway. We can’t operate along this fairway at the same time, since our ships wouldn’t have enough space to pass one another. There will, of course, be times when the customers of both shipping companies will be in the joint terminal at the same time, but because of the reception capacity of the port fairway, our departures are staggered, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“We won’t even have to change our timetables. When Viking Line arrives in port, most of our customers will have already left the yard area”, Jäntti says.

Transportation in exceptional circumstances

It is about ten months until moving day.

Until then, Tallink Silja should be able to operate the Baltic Princess from the port of Turku without interruption, even though the rental area used by the shipping company has shrunk considerably due to the needs of the terminal building site.

So far, everything has run smoothly. According to Jäntti, any challenges have been resolved through the adjustment of timetables between the partners.

“For example, today is Tuesday and the Baltic Princess does not operate from the port of Turku on Tuesdays during the winter season. I have told the builders they are free to work in our area on Tuesdays. Turku Energy is doing work there as we speak”, says Jäntti.

Text: Esko Pihkala
Photos: Lennart Holmberg, Janne Stenroos & Ramboll CM