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Finland Flag of Finland

Pre Arrival:  Charts
Arrival:  DS Pilots
Communications:  Pre-Arrival | VTS/Radar
Pollution:  Pollution
Facilities:  Medical
Security:  Police etc | Regs
Local Info:  Time | Holidays
Shore:  Customs
Crew:  Leave
Misc:  Authority
General Information for Finland
Geo-political:
Capital City: Helsinki. 60° 10.00′ N, 024° 56.00′ E
Nationality: (noun) Finn(s), (adjective) Finnish.
Population: 5,571,665 (July 2020).
Communications:
International Direct Dial Code: 358.
Number of Internal Airports: 148 (2013).
Major Languages Spoken: Finnish 87.6% (official), Swedish 5.2% (official), Russian 1.4% and others 5.8%.
Economy:
Currency: 1 Euro (EUR) of 100 Cents.
Exchange Rates:  (as of November 2020)
USD 1.00 = EUR 0.86
EUR 1.00 = USD 1.16
Exchange rates under licence from XE.com
Main Industries: Metals, metal products, electronics, machinery, scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp, paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles and clothing.
Agricultural Products: Barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, dairy cattle and fish.
Imports: Foodstuffs, petroleum, petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron, steel, machinery, computers, electronic industry products, textile yarn, fabrics and grains.
Exports: Electrical, optical equipment, machinery, transport equipment, paper, pulp, chemicals, basic metals and timber.
Commodities: Crude: Imports 236,700 bbl/d. Products: Production 310,600 bbl/d. Exports 166,200 bbl/d. Imports 122,200 bbl/d. LNG: Exports 4,000,000 cu.m.. Imports 2,322,000,000 cu.m..
Environment:
Territorial Sea: 12 n.m.
Contiguous Zone: Contiguous Zone: 24 n.m. Continental Shelf: 200 m. Exclusive Fishing Zone: 12.
Coastline Extent: 1,250 km.
Climate: Cold temperate; potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes.
Natural Resources: Timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver and limestone.
Terrain: Mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills.
Average Temperatures: 
Month High Low
January -7° C -9° C
June 18° C 8° C
September 12° C 6° C
CHARTS:  Both paper and electronic nautical charts are produced in Finland, by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency. Chart corrections are published as Notices to Mariners.
DEEP SEA PILOTAGE:  The Finnish coastline and Saimaa waters are divided into three pilotage zones: Southern, Eastern and Western pilotage zones. Finnpilot’s Pilot Order Centre serves all parties that require pilotage services, and it operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A binding request for a pilot is made three hours prior to the vessel's arrival at the pilot boarding area upon entry into Finnish waters, and two hours prior to the intended departure from a Finnish port.
Pilot Order Centre T: +358 29525 3000. F: +358 29525 3001. www.pilotorder.fi
Ice Advisors assist Masters of vessels navigating the icy conditions of the Baltic Sea with the aim of ensuring the safest and most efficient route to the port of destination and back out to the open sea.
Ice Advisors Ltd, c/o Finnpilot. PO Box 183/Tammasaarenkatu 1, FI-00181, Helsinki, Finland. T: +358 40741 4625. [email protected] www.iceadvisors.fi
Also see Baltic Deep-Sea Pilotage.
PRE-ARRIVAL INFORMATION:  PortNet:  Portnet is a port information system maintained by the Finnish Transport Agency. It is the national maritime single window system (NSW) for Finland. The following information is supplied to the Portnet system for all vessel visits to Finnish ports:
  1. Preliminary Notice
  2. Cargo Declaration
  3. Dangerous Goods Declaration
  4. shipyards or information on a shipwreck permit.
Ship arrival notification (Preliminary Notice) and Dangerous Goods Declaration is to be given 24 hours before vessel arrives at the Finnish port. The Cargo Declaration must be submitted no later than one hour after the mooring of the vessel.
Submission of documentation and notifications is made by registered users of the NSW, and available at appt.portnet.fi
VTS/RADAR:  Vessels with LOA of 24 m. or more are obliged to participate in the vessel traffic services. When navigating in the VTS area, vessels are required to maintain a continuous listening watch on the working channel used in the area. Furthermore, vessels are obliged to obey the rules relevant to the traffic in the VTS area. Vessels navigating in the VTS area, which are not obliged to participate in the vessel traffic services, are recommended to maintain a listening watch on the working channel in the VTS area or sector in question.
Vessel Traffic Management provides Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) to merchant shipping and other marine traffic and maintains safety radio operations. In Finland, Vessel Traffic Services are provided by the three VTS Centres of Fintraffic´s Vessel Traffic Services. The Centres’ surveillance areas encompass all coastal merchant shipping lanes and the Saimaa deep fairway.
Full information is available for download in PDF format at www.fintraffic.fi/fi/vts
POLLUTION:  The Ministry of Environment has overall responsibility for the management and control of oil and chemical spill response.
The Finnish Border Guard, operating under the Ministry, is the competent government authority for marine pollution response in the open sea. Rescue Service Departments, managed by municipalities, are responsible for spill response in coastal waters and on the shore. raja.fi/en/environmental-damage-prevention
Spill notification point is MRCC, Archipelago Sea Coast Guard District. T: +358 204 1000. (24 hours) or T: +358 204 1001. F: +358 294 1019.
MEDICAL:  See Shore Leave.
POLICE/AMBULANCE/FIRE:  The emergency phone number in Finland is 112. Please telephone 112 if you need urgent medical attention or help from firefighters or police.
It is also recommended that visitors download the 112 Suomi app to a mobile phone and, if required, make an emergency call through it. Location information in the app will assist getting help to the right location.
REGULATIONS:  Environmental legislation consists of IMO regulations, EU directives, HELCOM recommendations and national legislation.
EU MRV:  The EU MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) regulation entered into force on 1 July 2015, and it requires ship owners and operators to monitor annually, report and verify CO 2 emissions for vessels larger than 5,000 g.t. calling at any EU and EFTA (Norway and Iceland) port. Data collection takes place on a per voyage basis and started 1 January 2018.
The reported CO 2 emissions, together with additional data, are to be verified by independent certified bodies and sent to a central database managed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The aggregated ship emission and efficiency data will be published by the EC by 30 June 2019 and then every consecutive year.
Ship owners and operators shall monitor the CO 2 emissions of their vessels per voyage conducted into, between and out of EU (and EFTA) ports. A voyage is defined as any movement of a ship that originates from, or terminates in, a port of call (EU port) and that serves the purpose of transporting passengers or cargo for commercial purposes.
TIME:  GMT plus 2 hours in winter. GMT plus 3 hours in summer.
HOLIDAYS:  1 January (New Year's Day); 6 January (Epiphany); Good Friday; Easter Sunday; Easter Monday; 1 May (Labour Day); Friday between 19 June and 25 June (Midsummer Eve); Saturday between 20 June and 26 June (Midsummer Day); Saturday between 31 October and 6 November (All Saints' Day); 6 December (Independence Day); 24 December (Christmas Eve); 25 December (Christmas Day); 26 December (Boxing Day).
On Saturdays, Sundays and general holidays in Finland no cargo work is done.
SHORE LEAVE:  Crime levels are low. The tourist season attracts pickpockets in crowded areas. Take sensible precautions and keep your personal belongings, including passports and money, secure.
Finland has one venomous snake, the viper, or kyy in Finnish. If you are outdoors during the warmer months, watch your step and wear boots that cover your ankles. If you plan to spend time in rural areas, first visit a local pharmacy and buy a first aid kit (kyypakkaus). If you are bitten by a snake, call 112 and head to a hospital or doctor’s office immediately.
Mosquitoes are a nuisance during the summer. Ticks are found throughout the country, except the most northern parts of Finnish Lapland, and they can spread TBE and Borrelia. Wear long-sleeved shirts, clothes that cover your skin and bug repellent. Your highest risk of encountering ticks is on the coast and in the archipelago area. Statistically, though, the risk of contracting a tick-borne disease is low.
AUTHORITY:  Finnish Transport & Communications Agency, (Traficom), Maritime Directorate, PO Box 320, FI-00059 Helsinki, Finland. T: +358 29 534 5000. [email protected] www.traficom.fi