Page 24 - Port of Kokkola Handbook & Directory

DREDGINGNew 14 mfairway coming to KokkolaGlaciers from the last ice age, which covered vast areas of Northern Eurasia, first began to recede around 11,000 years ago. Back then the enormous weight of the 11 km thick glacier depressing the earth’s crust lifted, leading to slow and still ongoing re-arrangement of the land.Newer and larger Panamax vessels now require a draft of 14 m. Annually 50-70 vessels of this size – as well as Capesize – call at Kokkola, and due to the fairway’s restricted draft they often need to drop anchor in the Kvarken Strait – a narrow region in the Gulf of Bothnia which separates the Bothnian Bay from the Bothnian Sea – and be partly topped off just outside of the port where there is sufficient water beneath the keel.new cranes and building Scandinavia’s first All Weather Terminal. The port’s growth potential has now been secured thanks to investments of around €100 million over the last decade including port infrastructure and cargo handling equipment.In the Gulf of Bothnia today, land rises by about 10 cm per decade and over the last four centuries the Port of Kokkola has moved 3 km further west, from its original site to its present location. To combat this evolution and enable the port to accept today’s large vessels, the fairway leading into the harbour basins has been dredged several times during the last decades to between 11 m and 13 m.The 14 m draft will make it possible for Panamax vessels to load and carry an additional 10,000 tons of cargo, which will mean a total saving of roughly €10 million for the port’s clients. Consequently, transport companies handling Russian transit cargo traffic will be able to offer logistics solutions through the port of Kokkola at a significantly cheaper rate.To handle the growing traffic crossing Kokkola’s quays, capacity of the main rail lines serving the port estate has already increased, which will also help to accommodate the significant projected increases in cargo throughput.The present fairway allows fully loaded mid-size Panamax-size vessels of up to 65,000-80,000 DWT to visit the port. This, however, is insufficient for today’s heavy freight carrying ships.The Finnish Transport Agency (FTA) is convinced that development prospects for Kokkola's future cargo traffic are positive and that the present 13 m maximum depth is now proving to be a restrictive factor to this growth.22Port of Kokkola has already made considerable investments in creating additional storage capacity, purchasingThe FTA recognises that Kokkola' s high-growth expectations are based on an identified increase in transport, particularly in transit cargo to and from Russia using large bulk vesselsPORT OF KOKKOLA HANDBOOK & DIRECTORY