Port Oulu’s Director Kari Himanen: "We are looking forward better times"
The Finland’s port of Oulu has successfully come out of global financial crisis and gradually increasing volume of cargo. The port has developed for this year an extensive investment program for construction of new terminal facilities. Port Director Kari Himanen told in an interview with PortNews about the Oulu port’s plans.
- How Port Oulu did survive the crisis in 2009?
- The year 2009 was particularly difficult for all ports of Finland because of the global economic crisis. Port of Oulu came out of this hard period with relatively small losses. Compared with the average freight flow decreased marginally, and the company’s economy remained normal. The early 2010 was also difficult in terms of trade flows. The growth began in April and May and continued until the end of the year. The port managed to beat its 2008’s cargo throughput record in 2010. Traffic volumes for the first time exceeded 3.5 million tons and the increase over the previous year was almost 14%.
- In this century, we see upward trend in freight flows at global ports. Last year there was a strong increase in exports of timber. What the port needs to do at such cargo volume surge?
- Favorable increase of freight flows involves ensuring the appropriate level of services at the port. We improved the services level in 2010 thanks to overhaul of the main pier Nuottasaari, which had operated to the date for 50 years. We increased the berth’s capacity, renovated the water supply system and carried out preparatory work for further connection to the onshore power supply and reception of waste water from ships.
There has been a rebound in timber cargo shipments after years of recession. At times the export volume of timber was so large that we did not have enough warehousing capacities for the cargo storage. To solve this problem, it was decided to build a new outdoor warehouse facility. The area of a warehouse in Oritkari now being under construction is about 6,000sqm. The project includes the construction of new storage facilities that can be used as well for containers and project cargoes. The storage facilities are scheduled to be commissioned in late August 2011.
- What are the port’s investment plans?
- In recent years, we’ve been heavily investing in Oritkari expansion. In 2011 both the port and operators are going to invest in Vihreyasaari according to Vihreyasaari expansion plan developed in 2010. The plan will be approved in the spring of 2011. The Vihreyasaari development allows large investment projects in the area.
This spring, a private company starts construction of the cement storage bins. The investments into the project of Port Oulu are the largest in decades. The port is responsible for building access roads and transport areas around the storage bunkers, as well as activities related to marine safety. Vihreyasaari is expected to begin again storage of bitumen. The aim is to service all shipments of bitumen in northern Finland via the terminal, which will be built next summer.
Interview by Sophie Vinarova