Samskip strengthens presence in the Nordics led by new subsidiary in Finland

Finnish entity to deliver new opportunities for businesses connected by the Baltic Sea

Samskip has established its own business entity in Finland with ambitions to grow shortsea, inland and freight forwarding (ocean and air) volumes from new premises in Helsinki.

Replacing a previous agency arrangement, the Finnish enterprise will be led by logistics professional Atte Ingman, who has 30 years of experience representing European and Asian shipowners. His track record also includes establishing successful subsidiaries in Finland for shipping principals: former associations include some of the biggest names in container, project cargo and ro-ro transport.

The new entity will employ Ingman directly as Country Manager for the Finnish market, committing him exclusively to Samskip, and occupy of new offices with easy access to downtown Helsinki and Helsinki-Vantaa airport from 2 August.

“We are excited to strengthen Samskip’s position in the Finnish market by opening our own office following an increased demand for efficient and reliable short-sea solutions,’’ says Johan van der Pijl, Regional Director - Baltics & Russia at Samskip.

‘’Customers can now benefit from our extensive multimodal one-stop-shop services to the UK, Ireland, Italy as well as to the Benelux while reducing their carbon footprint as part of our integrated network of short-sea, rail, barge and truck solutions. In addition to opening our own office, we are making significant progress towards introducing our MySamskip Customer Portal to the Finnish market; everything to increase the ease of doing business with Samskip”

Samskip identified Finland as a prime candidate for growth soon after the appointment of Kari-Pekka Laaksonen as CEO in late 2019. COVID-19 put the Finnish CEO’s plans on hold but container transport trends through 2021 have brought the initiative back to top Samskip’s agenda for organic growth.

‘’Atte has strong links with regional shippers and, while the office set up is his immediate priority, there are also plans to make full use of the Samskip network of offices in surrounding Baltic States, including Germany, Poland and Russia,” added Martijn Tasma, Samskip Logistics Director Global Forwarding. “We need to be present wherever our customers need our services. By establishing a strong presence in Finland, Samskip will be offering a one-stop-shop solution for doing business with Finland, linking transport options in the Baltic Sea, across continental Europe, and beyond.

“Out of gauge and temperature-controlled loads offer special opportunities in this market and Samskip is fully geared up in terms of flexible tonnage and refrigerated capacity to take them. The value-added logistics solutions available through the wider group will also be fully deployed to support air freight, sea freight and rail freight services to and from Asia.”

Ingman added that his earlier experience with owners prioritizing sustainability as part of their shipping, inland transport and ports business culture would play a central part in growing volumes on behalf of Samskip.

“Samskip’s multimodal business model prioritises sustainability and we look forward to working closely with existing Samskip customers in Finland and engaging with others as we refine our services to meet their goals for decarbonizing transport,” he said. “Personal levels of service and commitment to continuous improvement across all processes are keys to creating successful shipping businesses in Finland.”

Samskip offers pan-European, environmentally responsible combined transport services via shortsea, road, rail and inland waterway routes. We are committed to cost-effectiveness, operational excellence and best practice in sustainable transport. High frequency services connect destinations across Europe, the Baltic States, Iceland and Faroes Island, and Russia, both door-to-door (including collection) and quay-to-quay, transported using a wide range of owned vessels, containers, trucks and trailers. To match equipment to cargoes shipped, options include a full range of ISO containers and reefers, including 33-pallet capacity 45ft units. Samskip’ Global Forwarding division offers global expertise in transporting perishables. Samskip has offices throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas and transports 800,000 containers every year.