Crime drama in the shipping company

The port is an important neighbour for the shipyard

Problems in Express transports are solved immediately

EditorialPort of Turku is part of world-class maritime cluster 3

ON THE COVER:Crime drama in the shipping company 4

ON THE COVER:The port is an important neighbour for the shipyard 6

Time is money in cargo handling 8

Investments in transport networks make Europe stronger 10

EU decisions support the development of port connections 13

ON THE COVER:Port employee: Problems in Express transports

are solved immediately 14

Online retailing continues to grow 16

Pasi Malinen's columnShipbuilding in Turku got faith in the future

and a family owner 19

Through the Port: The world's finest cabins are shipped from Turku 20

NaviGate fair promotes maritime industry 22

Aboard 2/2014The Port of Turku Magazine

Publisher: Port of Turku Ltd • Address: Juhana Herttuan puistokatu 21, 20100 Turku, Finland • www.portofturku.fiEditor-in-chief: Managing Director Christian Ramberg e-mail: christian.ramberg@portofturku.fi

Sub-editor: Marjo Ekman e-mail: marjo.ekman@portofturku.fi • Layout: Aija KallioCover Picture: Jouni Saaristo • Printing: Finepress Oy Edition: 1500 pcs

Change of address: markkinointi.satama@portofturku.fiISSN 2323-251X

AboArd 2/2014

The goal of the two-day NaviGate fair is to strengthen the vitality of maritime industry and seek new opportunities in co-operation and utilisation of strong expertise.

Today, the goods destined to the Meyer shipyard arrive via several ports, and exports in turn take place traditionally one ship at a time. The proximity of the Port is nevertheless important to the shipyard.

Some 100–150 cabins are shipped from the factory every week, and at peak periods that number is almost doubled. Their intermediate storage requires a lot of space which the cabin factory has recently rented in the Pansio Harbour area and from Turku Free Zone Company.

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The Port of Turku is located at the heart of the maritime cluster of Southwest Finland which is internationally known and highly valued for its expertise. The roots of Turku’s shipyard industry lie on the mouth of the River Aura, and shipbuilding continued in the port area up to the mid-70s, when the shipyard operations were transferred to Perno district, near the Pansio Harbour. Strong ties still exist between the shipyard and the Port, and they co-operate regularly.

After a few years of uncertainty, the future of the Turku shipyard now seems bright again. As a result of the ownership arrangements published at the beginning of August the shipyard’s order portfolio expanded considerably, which means thousands of man-years of work for the shipyard employees and subcontractors ranging from design agencies to component suppliers. Expertise in maritime technology is blooming also otherwise in the region, thanks to a number of new innovations that will provide solutions to e.g. the cleaning of sulphur emissions of vessels.

Apart from shipyard and other maritime technology industries, seafaring and logistics are the strong areas of the maritime cluster of Southwest Fin-land. Their importance to the whole of Finland is emphasised by the fact that more than 80% of Finland’s foreign trade is carried by sea.

The Port of Turku plays an important role in Finland’s foreign trade. Turku is the centre of Finland’s Scandinavian traffic with five daily departures to our most important destination port, Stockholm. One of our key goals is to continue developing the Motorway of the Seas together with the Port of Stockholm. We want to combine the sea and land transports into an effi-cient system as part of the European TEN-T network. Hence we are actively promoting the E18 growth corridor project between Scandinavia and St. Petersburg, too.

In addition to efficiency and flexibility, we pay special attention to environ-mental issues. We aim at reducing the emissions of our own operations and encourage our partners to introduce environmentally sound technologies. For example, there is an LNG terminal being planned in the Port which would serve both vessels that use environmentally sound liquefied natural gas as fuel and the local industry.

Port of Turku is part of world-class maritime cluster

Christian Ramberg Managing Director

4 Aboard 2/2014

Crime drama in the shipping

company TExT: SINI SILVÀN PHOTOS: ROBERT SEGER

According to Harri Winter, crimes can be enjoyed in the way Robin Hood did, by stealing from rich villains and distributing justice. “I have learned my lesson at work; one must constantly listen to and question oneself”, Mr Winter describes his way of writing.

"Many of my colleagues have read the book and tried to find themselves

in it. However, both the characters and the story are completely fictitious.”

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Head of Shipboard Commercial Operations at Viking Line, Harri Winter retired from his hectic 24/7 career on pension at the beginning of 2013. The job in the shipping company was changed for one of a debutant writer. For Mr Winter, the crucial moment came when he saw the adver-tisement of a course on writing detective stories entitled Todellinen rikollinen (the true criminal) organised by the specialisation on creative writ-ing at the University of Turku.

“I thought I should take a course before start-ing to write.”

In fact, the book was not quite his first one. Mr Winter’s mother, aged 87, had saved the book covers drawn by the little boy, with the title of the manuscript: Minä olen rosvo (I am a robber).

“I’d forgotten all about it.”In practice, the theme has been preserved and

matured for decades. The first detective story Hyvät pahat pojat (the good bad boys) described the operations of More Justice rather than just concentrate on investigating crimes. The story also shows the perpetrators’ point of view.

”Logically thinking, the name I am a robber is still suitable. There are actually robbers do-ing good deeds. The logic involves weighing the sense of justice in a new way.”

The writing course gave Mr Winter good ideas; he found the guidelines of writer Jarkko Sipilä particularly useful:

”After planning the plot of a story one can write a skeleton with the events listed chapter by chapter. I was a model student and used the technique, which was absolutely suitable for me.”

Colleagues look for themselves in the book

Already the first pages of the book take the reader into the world of the shipping company

Harri Winter is currently working on a new book in which the More Justice series will continue in a different envi-ronment.

Östersjö Line, which is described by Mr Winter very credibly.

”I am familiar with the world of ships, and actually spent my whole life there. Many of my colleagues have read the book and tried to find themselves in it. However, both the characters and the story are completely fictitious.”

Harri Winter has successfully created some extreme characters for his book. He describes both goodness and greediness. The dramatic tension is maintained till the end. Following the actions of today’s financial criminals has been helpful for describing the big business. A couple of years ago, Mr Winter himself visited one of the outrageous tax havens in a small town the same size as Naantali on the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The wall of a building was covered with names of hundreds of com-panies engraved in brass plates of the size of a matchbox. They represented head offices of companies, including well-known ones.

”Seeing those plates made one understand that it was reality.”

Publishing contract signed in the Caribbean

Harri Winter wrote the first version of his manu-script on the writing course. After that the text was sent to publishers, and the man himself went to the Caribbean to work as a skipper on sailing ships for Finnish holiday makers. He of-fered his book to four or five publishers. Two of them were interested and the rest gave standard answers: thank you very much, but this does not suit our publishing programme. Mr Winter finally signed a publishing contract with Myllylahti pub-lishers in a very exotic environment in the Carib-bean. He finished his book while sailing at the Windward Islands of Martinique, Saint Lucia and The Grenadines. “Of course I am happy! When I first got the book in my hand I thought: ‘this is my baby’. It was also great to find out that the book was sold out in all the bookshops in Turku within a week.” •

6 Aboard 2/2014

The port is an important neighbour for the shipyard TExT: KaLLE KIRSTILä PHOTOS: ROBERT SEGER

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Markku Päivärinta tells that he has worked in different logistics jobs at the Turku shipyard since 1974. ”I came for a summer job originally on the riverside and stayed for good.”

Samuli Kahala has also a long career behind him, although just half of his colleague’s years. “I came to the shipyard 20 years ago, as a summer employee at first, too. I’ve been working at logistics tasks for 10 years.”

Today, the goods destined to Meyer Turku ship-yard arrive via several ports, and exports in turn take place traditionally one ship at a time. The proximity of the Port is nevertheless important to the shipyard.

“It makes many things easier, when the Port can almost be reached by a forklift”, says Sam-uli Kahala, Logistics Manager at Meyer Turku.

“Speed and flexibility are definite advan-tages of the Port of Turku, and that makes our job in many ways easier”, Supervisor Markku Päivärinta adds.

Increasing need for storage space

Mr Kahala says that the storage need related to shipbuilding at the shipyard is increasing. The furniture for ships is one example of a new category of goods.

“Today, we buy them for the whole ship by ourselves, and thus we are also responsible for storing them.”

Another big category that takes up a lot of storage capacity is kitchen equipment. A stag-

gering amount is needed for one large cruise liner.

“One ship has thousands of square metres of kitchen equipment”, Mr Kahala says.

One visible and space-consuming category is lifeboats.

“They may be a familiar sight to the residents of Turku, as they are kept in Finnsteve’s outdoor storage area in the Port of Turku”, Mr Päivärinta points out.

From waste incinerators to stools

Meyer Turku shipyard has some 6,500 pallet places in the shipyard area. However, storing all the goods there is not sensible or even pos-sible.

“For example, waste incinerators weigh as much as 30 tonnes. We can’t always provide a covered space and sufficient lifting capacity for them”, Supervisor Markku Päivärinta says.

Goods need to be retrieved from storage for installation at different phases of the shipbuild-ing.

“One specific category is laundry equipment which is installed at the bottom in the early phase of building. At the other end are stools which are carted in by the thousands on the very last days”, Mr Kahala says.

New owner

The transfer of the Turku shipyard to a new own-er at the beginning of August was an expected decision.

“It’s been obvious for a long time that the gan-try crane needs to be painted with new colours”, sums up Markku Päivärinta who has worked at the Turku shipyard for 40 years.

The new principal owner of the shipyard, the German family-owned company Meyer Werft strengthens the long-term shipyard employees’ faith in the future of the shipyard.

“It seems positive, as the owner has a long-term attitude and two hundred years of expe-rience in shipbuilding and it’s a family-owned company”, Logistics Manager Samuli Kahala ponders. •

Co-operation with the logistics operators in the Port of Turku is an important part of materials management for Meyer Turku shipyard.

8 Aboard 2/2014

Time is money in cargo handlingTExT: KaRI aHONEN PHOTOS: MaRKKu KOIVuMäKI

Leader in cargo handling technology

The Finnish company MacGregor operates glob-ally, offering integrated cargo handling solutions and maintenance services for sea transports and the offshore business. This internationally highly acclaimed company is the market leader in loading hatches, ro-ro equipment and cargo handling cranes.

“Our major customers are in merchant ship-ping and offshore industry. The most important things about the products tailored for shipping companies are the customers’ loading needs, port requirements of the route, and the individ-ual cargo profile of each vessel. By taking these things into account already at the planning stage we can improve the productivity of the vessel, as well as increasing its profitable service life and reducing the environmental impacts”, says Timo Nordlin from MacGregor Finland Oy.

Newbuildings and vessel conversions

The core operations of MacGregor loading hatch

For efficient cargo handling, both technically high quality equipment and versatile pro-fessional skill is required at different stages of the service chain. The importance of both of these is emphasised in a country like Finland, as 80% of the foreign trade is transported by sea. Therefore, it is easy to understand why the special ex-pertise of the Finnish maritime cluster is at such a high inter-national level.

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”MacGregor also has a global mainte-nance network with more than 70 offices in the world’s biggest ports. Our maintenance service helps our customers to keep the vessels and cargo moving and prepare for upcoming maintenance needs befo-rehand”, says Timo Nordlin from MacGregor Finland Oy.

”The shorter vessel turnaround times are a challenge to the operators respon-sible for load handling. Sometimes the vessels are behind schedule, and we have to do our best to catch up by adding more men and machines to unload the cargo”, says Simo Laurila from Finnsteve.

business, i.e. planning and sales, are located in Kaarina, the neigh-bouring town of Turku. The actual manufactur-ing is done by carefully selected partners in dif-ferent parts of the world, mainly in Asia, where the manufacture of cargo ships is concentrated. MacGregor has mostly delivered various ramps, car decks and bow doors to the passenger ships built at the Turku shipyard.

”Various vessel conversions form a significant part of our business. For example, ramps are converted according to the change of routes by adding bow doors on ro-ro vessels and by build-ing car decks on two levels. In the past years we have also developed completely new products and solutions to meet the new safety require-ments”, Timo Nordlin explains.

Efficient operations at the port

A company in the Finnlines Group, Finnsteve is the largest port operator specialising in unit load

cargo at the ports of Turku and Helsinki. Simo Laurila is in charge of the company’s operations in Turku. Like Timo Nordlin, he also emphasises the importance of schedules and safety in steve-doring and cargo handling services.

”The most important thing from the ship-ping company’s point of view is that the ship’s turnaround runs according to schedule in the port. To guarantee that, we receive the cus-tomer’s instructions for the handling of inward and outward cargo in advance. We compile the outward cargo units in advance before the ship arrives and reserve the right number of men and machines to the quay, so that the work can com-mence at once after the mooring of the ship”, Simo Laurila explains.

Extreme precision and professional skill are required of the cargo handling staff, as the ship is loaded and unloaded at the same time. Traffic

" The most important things about the products tailored for shipping companies are the customers’ loading needs, port

requirements of the route, and the individual cargo profile of each vessel. "

control is a demanding job, as trailers and roll trailers move in and out. By reading the ship’s cargo plan the staff must identify the parts of the cargo to be unloaded and the parts possibly travelling to the next port. Checking the cargo for any damages in transit is also an important part of the

job. ”Cargo handling continues at the port even

after unloading. Part of the cargo is transported to Finnlines’ terminal for so-called transport technical warehousing, while part of it continues directly from the quay by road to the consignees. We inform the transport companies waiting for cargo in advance when the trailers arriving on board the ship can be collected from the port or from our terminal. Consequently, the companies can set their schedules accordingly and minimise the waste of time between the transports.” •

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The development of efficient transport systems is one of the European Union’s most important infrastructure projects. Transport plays a key role in the building of European common markets, and enhancing its smooth flow will strengthen the economic growth in Europe. Functioning transport systems facilitate the movement of people and goods and help reduce the environmental impacts caused by traffic.

Investments in transport networks make

Europe strongerTExT: KaRI aHONEN PHOTOS: MaRKKu KOIVuMäKI

”The key goal of the EU’s transport policy is to develop a single European-wide transport net-work that will combine the most important sea, road, rail and air connections in Europe”, says Jose anselmo of the European Commission who visited the Baltic Sea Days event in Turku in June.

Transport corridors form the foundation for the new core network

The new transport network named TEN-T com-prises of the core network and a comprehensive network to support it. The core network consists of nine key transport corridors in Europe. Two of them run from north to south, three from east to west, and four diagonally. The core network will rearrange the connections between the east and west, remove bottlenecks, improve trans-port infrastructure, and enhance cross-border transports for passengers and companies all over the EU. It will improve the connections be-tween different modes of transport and promote the reaching of the EU’s goals regarding climate change.

”The structure, schedules and financing of the core network have already been verified by the Member States. During the period from 2014–2020, the European Union’s funding to transport networks will be tripled to 26 billion euro, which will be allocated to the development of the core network. The total cost of the first phase of the

core network is estimated to amount to 250 bil-lion euro from 2014–2020. The core network is due for completion by 2030”, Jose Anselmo says about the costs and schedule of the TEN-T core network.

The new core network will be supported by a comprehensive road network that will be linked to the core network at regional and national level. The comprehensive network provides the necessary connections for the EU and ensures the accessibility of all areas. The goal is that gradually, and by 2050 at the latest, the large majority of the European citizens and busi-nesses reside a maximum of 30 minutes away from the comprehensive network.

Baltic Sea connects Finland to two main corridors

Finland is included in two corridors. The Scan-dinavian–Mediterranean corridor is a key trans-port corridor for the European economy that runs between the north and south. It crosses the Baltic Sea from Finland to Sweden and contin-ues through Germany and over the Alps to Italy. The corridor connects the large cities and ports of Scandinavia and Northern Germany, contin-ues through the industrial regions of Southern Germany, Austria and Northern Italy, and con-nects them to the ports of Italy and Valletta. The North Sea–Baltic corridor connects the ports on the east coast of the Baltic Sea to the North Sea ports, and also includes the ferry connection

12 Aboard 2/2014

between Finland and Estonia.”The Baltic Sea has been an important trading

route for Europe throughout the ages. Today, it carries even greater significance, because the Baltic Sea connects vital and developing eco-nomic areas that reach all the way to the Medi-terranean and the North Sea. Hence the Baltic Sea is part of two TEN-T core network transport corridors and the development work covers the Motorway of the Baltic Sea project and the E18 growth corridor project”, Jose Anselmo says.

Environmentally sound operations play a key role on the Baltic Sea

According to Jose Anselmo, the priorities in developing the Baltic Sea transports within the TEN-T programme are environmental friendli-ness, control of sea transports, and control and follow-up of goods flows. In his opinion, the most important thing is to reduce the environmental impacts of transports.

”Reducing the emissions of vessel traffic plays the key role, and the Sulphur Directive that will enter into force in the Baltic Sea region next year is a good start. The new directive pre-scribes that the sulphur content of vessel fuel

shall be reduced from 1 per cent to 0.1 percent. Hence, technology for reducing emissions will be needed in both old and new vessels. The principal options are either to install scrubbers in vessels or switch to environmentally sound fuels, such as liquefied natural gas LNG. To pro-mote the use of LNG, its availability shall be se-cured in the whole Baltic Sea region by building enough LNG terminals in the ports. In terms of the environmental goals, it is important that the industry and the Member States also participate in generating innovations for reducing emissions and building the infrastructure required by LNG distribution”, Jose Anselmo reminds.

Other key issues include safety and efficiency of transports

The importance of maritime transport control is highlighted by the frequent vessel traffic on the Baltic Sea. It is one of the busiest sea areas in the world, and the vessel traffic is estimated to double over the next 20 years. Hence the TEN-T transport system will pay special attention to vessel traffic control and follow-up.

”Key issues in securing the safety of trans-ports include training of vessel crews and the supervisory authorities, as well as development and efficient use of the maneuvering and infor-mation systems for maritime transports. Improv-ing the co-operation in maritime supervision between the Baltic Sea countries and different authorities is also essential”, Jose Anselmo stresses.

Mr Anselmo thinks that control and follow-up of the goods flow are the most important development items in order to make logistics more efficient. Turnaround times in the ports of the TEN-T network have to be shortened further, and connections from the ports to inland desti-nations have to be made as safe and smooth as possible. The follow-up of cargo has to use more electronic services at all stages of the logistics chain.

”Road transports will continue to play a major role in goods transports. The biggest challenges in road transports are also related to reducing the environmental impacts and improving the safety and smooth flow of traffic. These chal-lenges can be tackled by switching to LNG and other environmentally safe fuels in heavy vehicles and by developing innovative intelligent transport systems”, assures Jose Anselmo who is responsible for the European Commission’s TEN-T policy. He also reminds that precisely tar-geted infrastructure investments are a decisive factor in promoting economic growth, employ-ment and competitiveness in Europe. •

”The European Union will allocate 26 billion euro to the building of transport networks in the next 5-year period. With this sum we wish to accelerate the imple-mentation of different Member States’ own transport investments, especially in the transport corridors that are part of the TEN-T core network. Completing the core network within the target schedule also requires co-operation between the Member States and co-ordination of the project”, stresses Jose Anselmo from the European Commission.

"The Baltic Sea has been an important trading route for Europe throughout the ages."

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”The inclusion of the Port of Turku in the TEN-T core network shows the importance of the sea connection between Turku and Stockholm as the Nordic main route for both cargo and passenger transports. The services on the route have been developed considerably by both ports, shipping companies and other partners, and investments in the development will continue”, assures Ma-naging Director Christian Ramberg.

The decisions on the development of the European transport system mean positi-ve news to the Port of Turku and its customers. The Port is part of the TEN-T core network, which enhances the development of the most important connections of the Port and removal of bottlenecks.

EU decisions support the development of

port connections TExT: KaRI aHONEN PHOTO: MaRKKu KOIVuMäKI

“The map drawn by the European Commission shows the Port of Turku as a part of the Scandi-navian–Mediterranean corridor, which runs from Turku through Helsinki as far as the Finnish–Russian border. As for the Port connections, the core network includes the E18 motorway and the Turku–Helsinki railway. The building of the motorway is at its final stage, and the govern-ment has given the green light for the renovation of the rail connection”, says Christian Ramberg, Managing Director of Port of Turku Ltd.

From the point of view of the Port, however, the sea connection to Stockholm is the most im-portant one. Its development is also supported by the European Union. A major renovation and expansion project is already underway at Värtahamnen port in Stockholm. Supported by EU co-financing, the TEN-T project should be completed in 2016. The Värtahamnen port will be expanded towards the sea, there will be more berths, and the smooth flow of the traffic to and from the Port will be improved i.a. by the build-ing of road tunnels. A new passenger terminal will be built and the cargo operations will be enhanced by new cargo handling equipment.

The sea connection is being developed in close co-operation with the Port of Stockholm. The goal is to develop the ports of Turku and Stockholm into a modern pair of ports which will serve efficiently both passenger traffic and the logistic needs of business life. Apart from efficiency, the work is particularly focused on decreasing environmental impacts, for example by promoting the use of LNG fuel.

“The Port of Turku also shares the wishes of the City of Turku, the Regional Council of South-west Finland and many other organisations, con-

cerning improving the rail connections. It would be important, particularly for passenger traffic, to improve the connections and schedules be-tween Turku and Helsinki. The abovementioned organisations have jointly proposed that the rail-way line be straightened so that in the future the trip would only take one hour. The importance of the project is emphasised by the fact that the Helsinki–Turku rail connection is identified as a potential development project in the Connecting Europe Facility financing framework”, Mr Ram-berg says. •

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”Hello there, did you get a job yet?” Transport Manager Alek-si Koivisto asks from a driver. He sits at a computer wea-ring a headset. The working day has started out swiftly. The transport planners for Oy Scandic Trans Ab’s Express tran-sports work in the Turku terminal and keep the goods moving and the vehicles on schedule.

Transport Managers Jan Svarfvar and aleksi Koivisto handle the transport planning for Oy Scandic Trans Ab’s Express transports in the Turku terminal. Express shipments are inte-grated into the company’s other transports which are controlled from the head office in Mustasaari, Vaasa.

“The challenge is to plan as full a load as possible and at the same time take into ac-count the drivers’ statutory breaks during the day”, Mr Svarfvar says.

“If we sometimes have a quiet day, it feels like something is about to happen. The situ-ations change quickly.” Koivisto and Svarfvar are always ready: if a driver has to stop to wait at some point, the schedules will fail. Any problems need to be solved immediately.

“This is a kind of controlled management of catastrophes.”

Mr Svarfvar handles imports from the Greater Stockholm area, and Mr Koivisto is responsible for exports. Express freight ve-hicles carry goods on the Stockholm–Turku–Helsinki axis. The men work from 8 to 4 or 5 and carry their telephones 24/7.

”Sunday evening is a time when the phone will ring for sure. It’s better to answer, be-cause it makes the Mondays much easier”, Mr Koivisto says.

It is typical of Express vehicles that they have FRC or FNA rating and a back board lift. The goods are picked up from the customer and transported overnight to the recipient. In the morning the vehicle comes by ship from Stockholm to Turku, delivers shipments and loads goods in Helsinki and departs on the evening ship from Turku to Stockholm. Goods are carried in both directions, so that on weekdays there are two vehicles driving around in Stockholm and two in Helsinki.

The men ponder the unusual life of Express drivers: five nights a week onboard ship.

“The drivers have been doing it for years and do their job. We can trust them.”

Vehicles are units, drivers are personalities

”In principle, the vehicles are just units with a license number. We know what a vehicle can do, what its technical specs are”, Mr Svarfvar says.

The work is like doing a puzzle, as the suitable goods are picked and the loading is scheduled. Issues that have to be taken into account include the drivers’ working hours, the customers’ wishes and the compatibility of different cargo. For example, dangerous goods must not be put in the same vehicle with pharmaceuticals or foods.

In practice, though, the drivers are as easy to identify as vehicles. Koivisto and Svarfvar can tell from each other’s manner of speaking who they are talking to on the phone.

There are also differences in how easily a driver will contact the transport planners in case of any problems:

“We’re all individuals”, Mr Svarfvar says.“The systems keep improving all the time.

Our goal is to get the information to the driv-ers by computer. But that can’t replace a telephone contact”, Mr Koivisto says.

“The drivers also call each other quite often. Information spreads from vehicle to vehicle.”

Wordless co-operation

Some people wonder how the two men man-age to work closely together in one rather

small room. They say, however, that they couldn’t do it any other way.

“We have learned to hear from the other person’s speech what he’s doing. If we were in separate rooms, a lot of information would be lost.”

Although you don’t listen actively, you hear what’s going on and how the day proceeds. Svarfvar and Koivisto are up to date on each other’s duties and do the same work, but slightly differently.

“The biggest challenge in the work is that the schedule is unconditional. The vehicles must be in the port and at the unloading points on time. If our own driver can’t make it, we use subcontractors. There’s always a way”, Mr Koivisto sums it up. •

Problems in Express transports are solved immediately TExT: SINI SILVáN PHOTOS: ROBERT SEGER

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”Google Maps is our best friend. There you can check the details of an address. Is there room for the vehicle or not. We sometimes have arguments when the drivers have a different opinion”, Transport Managers Aleksi Koivisto and Jan Svarfvar say.

16 Aboard 2/2014

Online retailing continues to grow

TExT: KaLLE KIRSTILä PHOTOS: ROBERT SEGER

An increasing share of the transported packets are on their way to customers of online shops. Online retailing sets new requirements to the logistics industry in terms of both quality and needs, says Jouni Lamberg, Director responsible for Mail & eCommerce at PostNord.

PostNord is the biggest partner of online retail-ers in the Nordic countries, and Jouni Lamberg can see a great deal of unused potential in Finn-ish online retailing. So far, none of the players in Finnish online retail business has become a major international success story. Instead, Finn-ish consumers shop regularly in, for example, Swedish and German online shops.

“It’s our job to provide international logistics solutions to Finnish online retailers. We are more and more a B2C i.e. business-to-consumer player.”

The reason underlying the change is the rapid fall in the volume of mail, such as invoices. At the same time, the growth of online retailing has increased the volume of small goods and indi-vidual packets delivered to consumers.

“It’s no use following the trend, you have to lead the trend. That means responding to new kinds of challenges. We have to get close to the

consumers, and for example let them choose the pick-up location best suited for them”, Mr Lamberg says.

Added value services are growing

The logistics partner of an online shop is no longer just a logistics partner that takes care of delivering the goods to the customer safely and on schedule. Storage, collection of orders, packing, checking the saleable condition, and managing of returned items are increasingly of-ten a part of the service package that the online retailer buys from its logistics partner.

According to Mr Lamberg, it is no longer nec-essary for online shops and their warehouses to be located close to each other or the bricks-and-mortar shop, if there is any.

“We tailor the services as per the customer’s

wishes by combining the desired service mod-ules. The big trend in online shops is outsourc-ing. Previously it was done from brick-and-mortar shops to online shop but now the product range and warehouse of the online shop may be completely separated, and in the future the shops will serve just as show rooms”, Mr Lam-berg forecasts.

According to Mr Lamberg, the IT solutions will also be integrated more closely into the storage and transport of goods. Responding to the in-creasing need for transparency requires efficient reporting.

“The consumers demand from online retailers information on the whereabouts of the goods they have ordered, so we have to be able to provide that. The consumers also demand more and more flexibility; for example changing the pick-up location at the last minute as per one’s own needs is clearly a trend.”

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Driver Urmas Roosma unloads his lorry in the loading area.

Jouni Lamberg from PostNord says that his family shops online regularly. “We buy for example books often from online shops.”

Juhani Nurminen and Juha Palaja unload goods onto a conveyor line.

77% of Finns have made purchases online

14% of Finns buy products online at least once a month

1% of Finns shop online once a week or more often

18 Aboard 2/2014

Feedback on failures is more direct and spreads quickly in the social media.

“Messages about good services are also shared”, Mr Lamberg believes.

Online shops gain ground

The biggest product categories of online retailing in Finland are clothes, books and electronics, but there are new rapidly growing product catego-ries, such as health care equipment and interior decoration. The increasing volume of online sales and new product categories also mean a higher volume of returned items, and efficient customer return systems have become more and more important, because as a result of the tight com-petition, the consumers are usually offered the chance to return the goods free of charge.

“Everyone who has shopped online knows that sometimes the product is not suitable after all. Therefore taking care of efficient logistics for returning goods is equally important as the first element, which is delivering the order to the cus-tomer”, says Jouni Lamberg from PostNord.

In its warehouse in Turku, PostNord offers, for example, dust-free storage space which is re-quired for the storage of electronics. New product categories, such as foods and pharmaceuticals, may set new kinds of requirements for storage in the future.

“We don’t have any temperature-regulated storage space at the moment, but we are follow-

ing the situation and will react accordingly.”

Online sales is not rooted in Finland

According to Mr Lamberg, the annual growth rate of online retailing has been around 10 per cent in Finland for years. Its current value totals around 10 billion euro.

“It’s sad that the growth comes almost ex-clusively from foreign players. At the moment, money is flowing out of Finland.”

Mr Lamberg says that logistics is not an ob-stacle for the internationalisation of Finnish online retailers.

“The challenges lie elsewhere. You need a good product and have to distinguish yourself on the market. There are a few positive examples, such as the Moomin characters which are ex-ported to Japan.”

From the point of view of logistics, the Post-Nord warehouse is ideally located next to the Port of Turku, as a large share of the online retail goods come to Finland either from Sweden or via Sweden from e.g. Germany, Great Britain and the Benelux countries. Mr Lamberg would also like to see online retail goods flowing from Finland to those countries. He also says that the potential of online retailing in Russia should not be forgotten.

“The Russian market is still growing fast and it would be a great opportunity for Finland.” •

Source: PostNord’s survey on online retailing in the Nordic countries in 2013

Johanna Itälaakso collects packets for a shipment.

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Shipbuilding in Turku got faith in the future and a family ownerOne of the most important dates for shipbuilding in Turku was 23 October 1989, when Wärtsilä Meriteollisuus was declared bankrupt. Another important date was 4 August 2014, when Minister Jan Vapaavuori gave a press conference on the situation with STX Finland. The press conference was the result of a long time of preparation, negotiations and agreements. Negotiations were conducted simultaneously at least with the Finnish State’s companies (Finnvera, Finnish Industry Investment), STX (the parent company and STX Finland), Meyer, clients (especially TUI), and many others. It was done out of the public eye and with attention to the different parties. After a long time, the outlook for shipbuilding in Turku is now brighter.

Meyer is a traditional German shipbuilder. The Turku shipyard now has a family owner after a long time. For family-owned companies, a quarter often means 25 years! One can’t believe that Meyer would come to Turku just to build the two TUI ships announced in the press conference, but that it expects to get the options on two ships. And I think that something else is underway. With the purchase, Meyer got access to expertise in Oasis class large cruise liners, high-quality network of subcon-tractors, and a better site for assembly of the biggest cruise liners compared to its other shipyards.

The Finnish State joined the new company as a minority share-holder through Finnish Industry Investment, a risk investor whose investments usually involve other investors. According to Minister Vapaavuori, the State can withdraw from the ship-yard operations when a suitable buyer is found for its minority holding. A buyer is probably being actively searched, because

at least the current government’s policy is not to increase the State’s industrial holdings but to decrease them. This new intervention should be seen as an investment. Its multiplier impacts generate a great deal of money as taxes in the Turku region, both directly and indirectly. The possible selling of the shares is a matter for the future.

For Meyer, the State’s involvement indicates that in possible future shipbuilding contracts the State’s subsidies and guar-antees can be applied in accordance with the EU’s framework for subsidies. Securing financing during the building process is crucial in the industry. Meyer can also bring its shipbuilding ex-pertise to Turku and will hopefully invest in the Turku shipyard. With the acquisition, Meyer got access to a functional network of subcontractors which has been in trouble due to the small order portfolio of the shipyard. The end result could not have been better.

Pasi Malinen Professor (fixed term), D.Sci. in Econ. & Bus. Adm., Docent

Pasi Malinen (D.Sci. in Econ. & Bus. Adm.) is the Pro-fessor of Innovative Business in the Brahea Business and Innovation Development unit of the University of Turku. Dr Malinen has done research on entrepreneurship and par-ticipated in the management and planning of national and international entrepreneurship projects for over 20 years.

20 Aboard 2/2014

STX Finland Cabins Oy is the world's leading manufacturer of prefabricated modular cabins. Over the past 30 years, the company has delivered more than 125,000 cabins and bathrooms to all kinds of passenger vessels, and to offshore and building industries. The company’s cabin factories are lo-cated in Piikkiö and Paimio, with good connections and close to Meyer Turku shipyard.

The world´s finest cabins are shipped from TurkuTExT: KaRI aHONEN PHOTO: MaRKKu KOIVuMäKI

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”Shipbuilding industry is still our biggest client group, although deliveries to hotels and residen-tial buildings are continuously increasing. We are currently working on the cabins for luxury cruise liner Mein Schiff 4, ordered from the Turku shipyard by the German cruise operator TUI Cruises. There will be a total of 1,825 cabins on the ship. More than 80 per cent of the passenger cabins have a balcony, and two-storey suites have a terrace of nearly 30 square metres. We also manufactured the same number of cabins for the sister ship that was handed over to TUI Cruises in May”, says Lauri Laakso, Production Manager of the cabin factory.

Overall turnkey deliveries

The production of the factory has in recent years focused more and more on the building of complete cabin areas. In addition to cabin and bathroom modules, the company now provides solutions to public premises on board. A good example is the spa area of the new Viking Grace.

”In an overall delivery the cabins are delivered to the clients as a turnkey solution. The tech-nical details are provided by the shipyard and the architectural plans come from the shipping company that has ordered the vessel. On the basis of those, the cabin factory manufactures model cabins which make it easy for the clients to evaluate the solutions from the points of view of interior design comfort and functionality. Sometimes the clients send their employees to sleep overnight in the model cabins before serial production is started”, Lauri Laakso describes

the production process.In the production phase, the cabins are as-

sembled in stages into ready-to-install modules. Wall panels manufactured in-house are attached to the body, HPAC installations are completed, and surfaces and most of the furniture are installed in place already in the factory. In the shipyard, the cabin installation is carried out by professionals under supervision of project man-agers of the cabin factory.

Logistics plays a key role

”Efficient production requires absolute control of the logistics chain. One project involves some 300 suppliers, and one cabin may contain around one thousand different components. Controlling those material flows is a key issue for ensuring that we keep to the schedule and budget. In addition to the expertise of our own purchasing organisation, we need reliable and flexible logistics partners for both warehousing

and transports”, Lauri Laakso points out.Some 100–150 cabins are shipped from the

factory every week, and at peak periods that number is almost doubled. Their intermediate storage requires a lot of space which the cabin factory has recently rented in the Pansio Har-bour area and from Turku Free Zone Company. Furthermore, the cabin factory has indoor stor-age space e.g. for component shipments that arrive from Asia in containers.

”Our storage needs vary a great deal, but the Port of Turku and its partners have flexibly responded to our needs. The Port area is very well suited to intermediate storage of cabins, as it’s close to the shipyard, and it’s easy to arrange transports. We also co-operate with the Port, for example, in offshore shipments which are shipped from Turku to clients all the way to Asia. We started co-operation with the Port already in the 1980s, and I believe it will continue to strengthen”, assures Lauri Laakso, Production Manager of STx Finland Cabins Oy. •

In Piikkiö, clients can visit complete furnished model cabins. Sometimes the shipping companies send their employees to sleep overnight in the model cabins to test how the solutions work in practice.

“The requirements set by logistics are taken into account in the modules of STX Cabins. That makes transfers and installations safe and smooth at different sites”, says Production Manager Lauri Laakso.

The manufacture of cabins starts with panels. They are combined to create the body of the cabin, and all fixed furniture and HPAC equipment are installed in place at the factory.

22 Aboard 2/2014

NaviGate fair promotes maritime industryTExT: KaRI aHONEN PHOTOS: MaRKKu KOIVuMäKI

Maritime industry is a highly networked line of business where a large number of companies work on a single project. The NaviGate fair offers the players in the field an opportunity to present their own expertise and create contacts with potential partners”, says Jaakko Mäkikalli, Marketing Manager of the Turku Fair and Congress Center.

Turku is known as a strong centre of maritime industry and maritime logistics where a number of internationally acclaimed businesses of the field as well as research institutes and schools are based. Together with various maritime organisations, they contribute to the fair arrangements and participate as exhibitors.

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Experts, professionals and students of maritime logistics and in-dustry will gather in Turku from 19–20 November 2014. The goal of the two-day NaviGate fair is to strengthen the vitality of maritime industry and seek new opportunities in co-operation and utilisa-tion of strong expertise.

“Including maritime logistics in the fair theme emphasises the connection between industry and logis-tics. There are many common interests in the business of the fields, which resulted in the idea to cover both sectors in the fair content. The advance interest attracted by the fair shows that it was the right decision”, says Project Manager Sami Pietilä.

”Maritime industry fairs have been arranged in Turku also before, in 2007 and 2009. A little over a year ago, we began together with differ-ent co-operation parties to envision a new kind of event that would combine the key fields of the maritime cluster, i.e. maritime industry and maritime logistics. The already strong co-oper-ation between the fields and many overlapping benefits and needs speak for arranging a com-mon fair event. Both sectors need each other in order to succeed in international competition”, Jaakko Mäkikalli, Marketing Manager of the Turku Fair and Congress Center, says about the background of the event.

Diverse and topical programme content

The fair has been received with enthusiasm, and partners include a number of leading players in the industry. In addition to busines-ses, the key research institutes and education establishments in the field and other maritime organisations will participate in the fair. The fair programme planned together with them inclu-des education, seminars, information bulletins, networking, and recruitment. The themes are topical and focus on the maritime industry. As many as 150 exhibitors are expected to the fair.

”Thanks to its broad programme NaviGate will

be a new kind of event and unique in Finland. We have invested a great deal in the programme, so that the event would offer real benefit to all participants. Key seminar subjects include com-petitiveness provided to Finland by seafaring, the opportunities offered to the maritime cluster business by the Arctic dimension, and the future outlook for cruise liner building and retrofitting of vessels”, says Sami Pietilä, Project Manager of the NaviGate fair.

An excellent opportunity for international networking

In addition to the above-mentioned topics, there will be discussions on the impact of seafaring on the environment and means for preparing for the new sulphur and nitrogen restrictions. Export and financing questions are also on the agenda. The fair programme will be complemented by events arranged at the same time by different partners.”The offering of expert seminars combined with the information provided by the exhibitors will give the visitors a comprehensive view of the current situation and future outlook for the maritime cluster. The diverse content will be complemented by the unique opportunity to meet people in the maritime industry, network, create contacts, and start commercial con-

nections for the future. NaviGate Matchmaking event is part of the fair programme. The event is arranged by Enterprise Europe Network, and it is possible to set up meetings in advance with players one is interested in. Welcome to Turku”, Sami Pietilä and Jaakko Mäkikalli say on behalf of the NaviGate fair.

Port of Turku and its partners will be at the fair

The Port of Turku has actively contributed to the development of the NaviGate fair and will be present as an exhibitor. At the Port’s stand you can meet representatives of the Port of Turku as well as our partners, and exchange thoughts on topical issues on seafaring and logistics. The partners at our stand are: Baltic Line Finland Oy, DSV, Mann Lines Oy, Läänin Kuljetus Oy, Steve-na Oy, Turku Stevedoring Oy, and Oy Wikeström & Krogius Ab. •

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