The 39th meeting of the Russian-Finnish Mixed Commission on Maritime Shipping was held in Helsinki, Finland, on 14-15-March. According to Russia’s Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot), the Russian delegation was headed by Yury Kostin, Director of RF Transport Ministry’s Department of State Policy for Maritime and River Transport and included representatives of RF Ministry of Transport, organizations subordinate to Rosmorrechflot (Marine Rescue Service, Baltic Sea Ports Administration, Rosmorport and its North-Western Basin Branch) as well as Russian Chamber of Shipping and Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
The Finnish delegation headed by Päivi Antikainen, Director of Unit, Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland, included representatives of the Ministry and the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency.
When speaking at the meeting, Yury Kostin highlighted the growth of cargo turnover between Russian and Finnish ports as well as the significance of keeping this trend in the future. He informed the partners about recent amendments introduced into the Russian legislation in the field of seaborne transport, particularly in the Merchant Marine Code. When speaking about LNG powered ships and the development of the related infrastructure in Russia, Yury Kostin mentioned Sovcomflot as a company expanding its fleet of ships running on LNG.
In her keynote speech, Päivi Antikainen emphasized the priorities of the Ministry in the shipping area, particularly autonomous shipping and reduction of emissions from ships. In this context, she focused the attention on agreements to decrease GHG emissions from ships under the IMO strategy as well as using bio fuel by ships. According to Päivi Antikainen, Finland is set to promote it during its EU Presidency period beginning on 1 July 2019.
During the meeting, the delegations discussed the topical matters of shipping. The parties exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in the framework of the IMO, Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission and the Arctic Council. Among the issues discussed was the joint project on harmonized implementation of the Polar Code, reduction of black carbon emissions from ships in the Arctic waters, preparations for implementation of Tier III NOx emission requirements, control of sulfur content in marine fuel. The parties expressed satisfaction by the level of cooperation in the above-mentioned spheres.
Russia, Finland satisfied by shipping and environmental cooperation in Baltic and Arctic regions
The next meeting of the Russian-Finnish Mixed Commission on Maritime Shipping will be held in the Russian Federation in 2020.