For her beloved Baltic Sea

Some 90% of Finnish imports and exports rely on shipping. Should ships for one reason or another fail to leave port, the common saying Finland is an island would quickly become a reality. 

‘Our national economy depends on seafaring. Sea traffic cannot be replaced in cargo transport, and it is also the soundest choice ecologically, says CEO Tiina Tuurnala.

It’s easy to see her career to date as a straightforward and logical procession.

Tuurnala, a student of location information technology and cartography at what was then the Helsinki University of Technology, first landed a summer job at the Finnish Maritime Administration. Less than a decade later, and still only 31, she was in charge of their marine survey division. From there, she was recruited to the Finnish Transport Agency, where she first worked as a Development Director before being promoted to Deputy Director General in charge of the traffic and information function. At the time, she was responsible for road, rail and maritime traffic functions at the Agency. About three years ago, she was called to the helm of the Finnish Shipowners’ Association.

Although the technology field was not Tuurnala’s only option, deciding to study map and location information technology was precisely the right choice. Back when she started her studies in the early 1990s, few would have guessed that location information would be used in so many applications. Nowadays, location information is associated with nearly every click we make on our computers. It is of interest to home appliance sellers and political decision-makers alike.

‘Being involved in precisely this phase of development, when electronic charts were introduced to maritime traffic, has been amazing. Digital location technology also changed the production processes of nautical charts and their means of production. Finland played a big role in the drafting of the international standard. I’ve always been comfortable on the bridge of a ship, and back then I spent lots of time there listening to feedback from seafarers on the development of chart technology,’ Tuurnala says.

Greener seafaring

As with all traffic, a crucial issue for seafaring is finding ways to improve its environment-friendliness. Minimising emissions is the key venture for the near future.

‘A lot has already been achieved, but there’s still plenty to do as well. Our goal is emission-free sea transports,’ Tuurnala says.

The International Maritime Organisation, a UN agency, has set the ambitious target to cut the carbon dioxide emissions of sea transports by 40% by 2030 and by 70% by 2050. The year of comparison is 2008 and the unit of measurement is one gram per transported tonne and kilometre.

‘Marine shipping operators report vessel-specific carbon dioxide emissions to the European Commission. Sea transport is the most environment-friendly alternative especially when hauling large cargo volumes – and often the only one, too. There’s frequently no option but to use marine transports,’ Tiina Tuurnala points out.

In the Northern European region, the sulphur emissions of sea transports have reduced to almost zero since 2015. That’s when the Sulphur Directive, which restricted sulphur emissions on the Baltic and the North Sea to 0.1%, came into force. A global 0.5% emission limit came into force at the start of the year.

The means for making seafaring more environment-friendly require new technology, enhanced energy-efficiency and hybrid solutions, which combine the use of different sources of energy. In future, more and more ships will be powered by, for example, liquefied natural gas, electricity or biofuel made from waste products. Sails will also be making a comeback to seafaring vessels as utilisation of wind energy increases. Finnish cargo ship Bore Estraden has for years been exploiting wind with the aid of a rotor sail. The Viking Grace also harnesses the wind.

‘So, many of these methods are already in use on ships owned by Finnish operators. Finnish ports and shipowners are at the forefront of development.’

‘Although there have been only a fewserious accidents, close calls have been more frequent. Good cooperation bet-ween Finnish officials and their counterparts in neighbouring countries has prevented many major accidents from happening.’

An oil spill, for example, would be disastrous for the Baltic. 

Tireless efforts to ensure the safety of seafaring are ongoing on all shores of the Baltic Sea. In this, marine charting also plays an important role; chart information must be correct in order for navigation to be safe.

‘My respect for shipping professionals is unwavering. They keep calm through every storm and in any situation, and this never fails to impress me. This is why I’m always happy to visit the bridge whenever possible.’ •