The Rauma waterway and the extension of the container terminal will be inaugurated today
The deepening of the Rauma waterway to 12 meters, the expansion of the container terminal and the improvements made to the container pier have served sea transport at the end of last year. The two-meter-deep waterway enables much more efficient transport, with ships being able to load up to twice as much cargo. The improved port, in turn, will serve more efficient movement of goods before and after sea transport. The inauguration will be held in the Port of Rauma today, April 26, 2018.
“It’s great to have a long-awaited project completed. The deepened route will significantly increase transport efficiency in terms of both logistics costs and, for example, environmental impact. Functional sea connections are a vital condition for Finnish business life and competitiveness, as 80% of imports and 90% of exports go by sea, ”says Kari Wihlman, Director General of the Finnish Transport Agency. “The project has been an interesting testing ground for new solutions for us, both in construction and in the development of smarter maritime transport. More accurate condition data helps customers optimize transportation, while smarter safety devices placed on the fairway bring efficiency to maintenance. ” Dredging work on the Rauma southern waterway from ten meters to 12 meters began in 2016. The work lasted for two open water seasons and was completed last December. “For the first time, we utilized data modeling in the design and implementation of construction work for the maritime route project. With the help of the information, it was possible to monitor the progress of the work more precisely, ”project manager Seppo Paukkeri describes the special features of the project. Caring for the marine environment was emphasized as the starting point for the project: “All dredged clean soil was disposed of in the Järviluoto landfill built in connection with the project. The construction of the landfill was one of the largest individual works of the project. The contaminated soil was disposed of and stabilized in a separate disposal basin isolated from the marine environment, ”Paukkeri continues. The state of the sea area was monitored during the project through extensive water and fisheries monitoring. Ex-post monitoring will continue in 2018 in accordance with the water permit conditions.
Maritime connections serve the entire business community
The expansion of the container terminal was carried out at the same time as Rihtniemi’s 12-meter fairway recess. “The projects supported each other and now that both have been completed, the competitiveness of the Port of Rauma will improve significantly. The investments provide a strong basis for meeting the requirements of global competition, ”says Hannu Asumalahti, CEO of the Port of Rauma. “The capacity of the container terminal almost doubled (500,000 TEU) and operational efficiency improved significantly. In addition to the unified 520 m container berth, approximately 4 hectares of new field space were added for handling containers. The investments of Satama’s partners complement the whole and will all support the loading of larger vessels in the future. ” The very good co-operation between the different parties in the project in coordinating the works and traffic enabled safe and smooth vessel traffic during the works and also contributed to the fact that the fairway was introduced even slightly ahead of the original schedule. For more information: Director General Kari Wihlman, Finnish Transport Agency (interview requests Director Anna Jokela, tel. +358 29 534 3095) Project Manager Seppo Paukkeri, Finnish Transport Agency tel. +358 29 534 3361 President and CEO Hannu Asumalahti, Rauman Satama Oy tel. +358 50 303 9700