Ship travel doubled
The total number of passengers at the Port of Helsinki was 8.1 million, doubling from the previous year. Ship travel is bouncing back well after the pandemic.
At the beginning of the year, regulations restricting travel to contain the COVID-19 pandemic were still in force. From March onwards, the pandemic was under better control, and ship travel also picked up again as society began to reopen. The health security measures at Finland’s borders ended on 30 June 2022, after which travellers arriving in Finland were no longer obliged to present any COVID-19 certificates or to be tested for COVID-19.
At the end of the summer season, passenger volumes on some routes exceeded 80% of the pre-pandemic record levels. The rest of the year was slightly quieter, partly due to shipping companies selling and leasing their ships abroad, thus affecting traffic numbers. Viking Line sold the M/S Amorella, and Silja Europa, leased out by Tallink Silja for accommodation purposes, is expected to return to regular operation in summer 2023. The most positive event at the end of the year was the start of Tallink’s new ship MyStar’s operation on the Helsinki–Tallinn route.
Passenger traffic
| Liner traffic | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Change-% 21/20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockholm | 376 000 | 399 000 | 1 405 000 | +252.4% |
| Tallinn | 4 097 000 | 3 150 000 | 6 322 000 | +100.7% |
| Travemünde | 84 000 | 102 000 | 152 000 | +49.4% |
| Mariehamn | 50 000 | 72 000 | 43 000 | –40.2% |
| Others | 149 000 | 16 000 | 30 000 | +89.5% |
| TOTAL | 4 757 000 | 3 738 000 | 7 951 000 | +112.7% |
In 2022, the total number of passengers at the Port of Helsinki was 8.1 million (2021: 3.7 million).
A total of nearly 8 million passengers used liner traffic, which was 112.7% more than the previous year. There were 6.3 million passengers on the Helsinki–Tallinn route, 1.4 million on the Stockholm route and 152,000 passengers on the Helsinki–Travemünde route. There was no traffic at all on the Helsinki–St. Petersburg route in 2020–2022.
Reaching passenger volumes preceding the COVID-19 pandemic in liner traffic is expected to take 2–3 years, even though the current trend is positive.
City centre’s passenger harbours
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers of liner traffic | 4 553 826 | 3 507 119 | 7 640 000 |
| Passengers of international cruise traffic |
– | 11 000 | 162 000 |
| Vehicles | 1 319 000 | 1 252 000 | 1 715 000 |
| Ship calls | 4 330 | 4 413 | 4 956 |
Cruise season was slow
Helsinki’s international cruise season started in mid-April and continued until October. The summer was expected to be busy based on advance bookings, but as the season progressed, some of the calls were cancelled when cruises to St Petersburg were called off.
A total of 162,000 passengers explored Helsinki and the Helsinki region. The highest numbers of passengers came from Germany (37%), the USA (21%), the UK (17%) and Italy (3%).
There were 164 vessel calls in Helsinki, 25 of which included an overnight stay in Helsinki. During the season, 12 ships arrived that had not visited Helsinki before.
International cruise traffic is facing major challenges due to the geopolitical situation and no major growth is expected soon. However, international cruise traffic is a form of tourism that the Port of Helsinki is developing on a long-term basis and in cooperation with operators and stakeholder groups with the aim of strengthening the attractiveness of Helsinki as a cruise destination.