Tallinna Sadam handled 22.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2021
In 2021, 22.4 million tonnes of cargo and 3.5 million passengers passed through the harbours of Tallinna Sadam. According to the press release of the Port of Tallinn, the annual increase in cargo volume was 5%, which was driven by ro-ro and dry bulk. The number of passengers decreased by 18% as a result of the pandemic, while the number of vessel calls increased by 4% due to the continuation of cargo transportation on the international passenger lines. The number of passengers between the Estonian mainland and the main islands recovered from the last year restrictions on movement to the islands by 12% and 14% respectively. The number of charter days of the icebreaker Botnica decreased by 5% due to the shorter charter period of the Canadian project in Q4.
In Q4, the cargo volume of Tallinna Sadam was 4.7 million tonnes and 1.1 million passengers visited the harbours of Tallinna Sadam. Compared to Q4 2020, the cargo volume increased by 93% supported by Helsinki and Stockholm lines, whereas the cargo volume decreased by 19%. The number of vessel calls increased by 2% to 1809 calls. The number of passengers and vehicles travelling between the Estonian mainland and the main islands increased by 7%. and the utility rate of the icebreaker Botnica was 33%.
The cargo volume decreased in Q4 mainly due to the decrease in liquid bulk and dry bulk. The fall in dry bulk was mainly due to the decrease in the volumes of grain and fertilizers. “The decrease in liquid bulk in Q4 was due to the general downward trend in demand for liquid bulk terminal services, as the future price of the goods is cheaper than spot price. Terminal operators were also affected by the sharp rise in energy prices,” said Valdo Kalm, chairman of the management board of Tallinna Sadam. “Annually, we increased the cargo volume by 5%, which was supported by the record volume of ro-ro cargo,” explained Kalm.
The number of passengers increased sharply by 93% in Q4 but decreased by 18% year-on-year due to restrictions on movement related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a reduction in people’s confidence and travel due to the instable situation. “In the pandemic period, i.e. from the second to fourth quarter, we still had 14% more passengers this year than in April-December last year, so it can be said that more flexible restrictions and adaptation to the situation have helped to restore passenger volumes, but at a slower pace than expected. The reopening of the Tallinn-Stockholm route in July and the return of cruise passengers to Tallinn made a significant contribution to the recovery,” Kalm noted.
In this summer, people travelled to the Estonian islands with the ferries slightly more than a year before. The icebreaker Botnica continued the same course as last year but returned from the summer work in Canada a bit earlier than in 2020.