REFEC – Reinforcing Eastern Finland-Estonia Transport Corridor (CB736)
The heavy vehicle traffic (trucks and trailers) on ferries over the Gulf of Finland has been ever increasing and the trend is estimated to continue. There are two ferry routes between Finland and Estonia (Helsinki-Tallin and Hanko-Paldiski). Remarkable part of this heavy vehicle traffic takes place between Eastern Finland and Eastern Estonia. Currently the trucks need to drive via Helsinki-Tallinn, or via Hanko-Paldiski, even longer route. The best solution to make the Eastern Finland – Eastern Estonia corridor more efficient is to establish a ferry connection between ports of Loviisa (FI) and Kunda (EE). This connection is practically in direct north-south axis (54 seamiles). Moreover, there is no Russian territorial water in between.
The project aims at reinforcing the establishment of Eastern Finland-Eastern-Estonia transport corridor. The project outputs are focused mainly on concrete measures to support Loviisa-Kunda ferry connection. This includes business model(s) with potential shipping companies, port operative and investment plans, roadmap to comply the needed licences and regulatory requirements, best practise transferred from similar connections in the BSR, ferry scheduling and route option plans, marketing plan and events to promote the connection. Furthermore the cargo potential of the corridor is analysed and the impact of the developed corridor is verified (reduced travel time, volume using the corridor and Loviisa-Kunda connection).
In addition to the faster and more fluid transports between eastern parts of Finland and Estonia there are other beneficiaries of the activated transport corridor. The traffic to/from Eastern Finland that uses Via Baltica would benefit from more direct connections as well. Another major advantage is relieving the pressure of growing heavy traffic (traffic jams, emissions, noise, dust) in the city centres of Tallinn and Helsinki. The decreased mileage in transports means also less CO2 emissions.
More information on Refec homepage.
The Centre for Maritime Studies is the lead partner in REFEC. The other partners are the town of Loviisa, Port of Kunda and Posintra Ltd. Duration of project is 1.12.2017-30.11.2020. The project budget is 728 192 € of which 569 664 € is from ERFD (Interreg Central Baltic Programme) and the rest from the partners.
Contact:
Tiina Whiley, Project Manager
+ 358 50 512 3515
VARAA AIKA