Valdo Kalm was elected to BPO’s Management Board

The Baltic Ports Conference 2016, which took place on the 8-9th September 2016 in Helsinki, Finland, saw the Baltic Ports Organization’s (BPO) General Assembly choose its Board Members for the electoral period of 2016-2018. Port of Tallinn’s Chairman of the Management Board Valdo Kalm was also elected to BPO’s Management Board.

The Management Board of BPO, which currently includes nine members, represents and manages the organization. Julian Skelnik from the Port of Gdańsk, will retain his position as the Chairman of the Board. Dr Kimmo Naski from the Port of HaminaKotka and Henrik Widerståhl from the Ports of Stockholm have been elected as Deputy Chairmen. Valdo Kalm from the Port of Tallinn joins many familiar faces as a new addition to the board line-up. Each of the board members is elected for a period of two years. 

According to Valdo Kalm the international cooperation is very important for the Port of Tallinn, especially regarding the future developments. „The Baltic Ports Organization includes several Baltic Sea ports, which all have similar goals and concerns that are easier to solve while working together. With such a process several innovative and sustainable ideas have come to life. For example the recent signing of a cooperation memorandum between Port of Tallinn, Port of Helsinki, Ports of Stockholm and Port of Turku, where we set a common approach for the new on-shore power supply for vessels. Cooperation between ports has also resulted in EU recognising these issues,” commented Kalm.

This year’s event was a very special one in BPO’s history. It marked the 25th anniversary of BPO’s activities on the regional and global stage. As such, it was also a testimony to half a century of work in promoting cooperation between the Baltic countries and spreading their standards and best practices among other regions.  

BPO’s mission is to contribute to an economic, social and environmental development of the maritime transport and port industry in the Baltic Sea region, thereby strengthening the global competitiveness of the Baltic Sea region.

BPO is an active port organization inspiring and supporting its members and cooperating pro-actively with relevant partners. BPO is well recognized within the Baltic Sea region and in EU bodies and other European regions.