Port of Tallinn 2022 results: 7 mln passengers and 18 mln tonnes of cargo

In 2022, 7 million passengers and 18 million tonnes of cargo passed through the harbours of Port of Tallinn. The annual number of passengers increased by 98%, or 3.5 million passengers, recovering from the movement restrictions related to the pandemic. Compared to last year, the cargo volume decreased by 21%, or 4.6 million tons, due to the implementation of sanctions on Russian and Belarussian cargo. The decline in liquid bulk and dry bulk volumes due to sanctions was somewhat offset by growth in all other cargo types. The number of vessel calls was relatively stable, decreasing by only 2% to 7,130 visits. The number of passengers between the Estonian mainland and the main islands recovered increased by 4%. The number of charter days of the icebreaker Botnica decreased by 7% due to the shorter charter period of the Canadian project in Q4.

According to Valdo Kalm, chairman of the management board of Port of Tallinn, the recovery of passenger business continues at a faster pace than expected. “The number of passengers has doubled in a year, and a brand new, larger ship m/s MyStar was added to the Helsinki line in December, which will continue to support the growth of the passenger business. Today, we have managed to recover to 72% of the pre-pandemic level,” said Kalm. “We are very happy that despite St. Petersburg’s disappearance from the cruise map, 170 thousand cruise tourists found their way to Tallinn and 2,000 to Saaremaa again, which is in total three times more than last year,” said Kalm.

In terms of cargo volumes, the growth of ro-ro, container and general cargo volumes continues, but the overall cargo volume has decreased due to the sanctions imposed on Russia. Sanctions affect the handling of liquid cargo and fertilizers (bulk), from December the European Union embargo on oil and oil products of Russian origin came into force in Estonia.

(Source: https://www.ts.ee/en/port-of-tallinn-2022-results-7-mln-passengers-and-18-mln-tonnes-of-cargo/)