Finnpilot pilots the tall ships into the ports of Kotka and Turku
Finnpilot says it pilots the tall ships into the ports of Kotka and Turku - The Tall Ships Races is part of the Finland 100 celebration.
The company’s pilots will guide the event’s largest sailing ships smoothly into Kotka’s Kantasatama harbour and up to the banks of the River Aura in Turku for the public to admire. Both events will offer visitors the opportunity to step on board a pilot vessel and learn more about pilotage.
More than 80 ships will be sailing into Kotka, around ten of which will need pilotage services. Close to 100 ships will be arriving in Turku with at least the same number of vessels requiring pilotage as in Kotka. Vessels of longer than 70 metres and State vessels of more than 17 metres are required to use a pilot when approaching or departing a port in Finland.
‘Piloting sailing ships makes a nice change from the usual freight traffic’, says Matti Martikainen, District Chief Pilot in Kotka. He is responsible for pilotage in the region surrounding Kotka and the functioning of traffic throughout the Tall Ships Races Kotka event.
In Kotka, the pilotage distance is 24 nautical miles and takes approximately three hours to navigate. The port is challenging with its labyrinth-like channels and tight moorings, but with the help of a tugboat, even the largest ships are led safely to the quays.
Pilotage service in the Archipelago Sea begins from Utö island and runsover 50 nautical miles to the River Aura. The journey through the rocky stretches of the archipelago can take hours. When arriving in Turku, the ships must be arranged along the River Aura in an even closer formation than in Kotka.
‘Piloting an old sailing ship is fantastic, because it allows you to enjoy the navigational atmosphere of times gone by. It’s also inspiring to be on a ship with so many enthusiastic young sailors’, says Ari Saari, District Chief Pilot in Turku, who has already been collaborating with the Port of Turku for quite some time to establish the positions for each of the arriving ships.
‘In Turku, we need to have a tight timetable for the arrivals and departures in order to make sure that everything goes smoothly. The departure of all the vessels from Airisto is amazingly splendid’, adds Saari, who has been involved in all the Tall Ships Races events in Turku.
Both locations of the Tall Ships Races provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the work of pilots and pilot cutter operators and about the pilot vessels themselves. The pilot vessels will be located along the eastern quay (itälaituri) of the Kantasatama harbour in Kotka and at the bow of the frigate Suomen Joutsen in Turku.