Energy-efficiency has also improved, as electricity consumption decreased by as much as 24 per cent over the same period.
The Port’s environmental programme valid for 2019-2025 aims at improving those figures further and securing the well-being of the maritime environment. The latter involves a decision by the Port and the City of Turku to stop disposal of dredging masses in the sea by 2024 at the latest. In practice, it means switching to disposal on land, which will considerably reduce the impacts of dredging operations on nearby waters and the Airisto sea area, which is part of the delicate Archipelago Sea.
Ecological responsibility is a common cause
The Port of Turku also promotes the goals of its environmental work by participating in many co-operation projects that take the environmental aspects into account. The ongoing NextGen Link project 2017- 2020 has received CEF funding from the EU. The most important environmental goals of the project are to make maritime traffic more sustainable and environmentally sound as well as promoting the demand for alternative fuels in the Baltic Sea region. The project partners are the Port of Turku, City of Turku, Viking Line and the Port of Mariehamn from Finland, and the Ports of Stockholm, from Sweden.
Within this project the Port of Turku has ordered an automooring system which will speed up the mooring and unmooring of ships as well as cut down their fuel consumption and reduce the emissions during port calls. The automooring system will be installed in Viking Line’s berth by the end of 2020 and it will be used both by Viking Grace and Viking Glory, which is currently under construction and will start operating on the Turku-Stockholm route in 2021 alongside Viking Grace. Both vessels are fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The environment will continue to be an important factor when port operations are being developed. In its environmental work the Port is committed to the City of Turku’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2029.
You can read the Port’s Environmental Report 2019 on https://www.portofturku.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PofT_Ymp%C3%A4rist%C3%B6raportti_2019ENGwebF.pdf