A strategic investment by the Port of Tallinn – a new multifunctional quay in the Paldiski South Harbour – has been opened.
On European Maritime Day, 20 May, the Port of Tallinn opened a new multifunctional quay in the Paldiski South Harbour, which is one of the company’s largest strategic investments in recent decades. The opening of the quay was attended by Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Minister of Infrastructure Kuldar Leis and Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur. As a result of a public naming competition and final vote, the quay was named Tuuli.
The new quay is a unique infrastructure facility on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which will serve the construction and maintenance of offshore and onshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea region. In addition to servicing wind farms, the reinforced quay is designed to accommodate heavy equipment from the Estonian Defence Forces and NATO allied forces. The 10-hectare back area built together with the quay adds specialness to the facility also because its construction increased the area of Estonia’s landmass.
“Paldiski’s new multifunctional quay is a good example of the infrastructure that Estonia needs – it creates new opportunities for the economy and at the same time strengthens our defense capabilities. However, Paldiski’s strength is not just the new quay, but the whole: the port, the sea, land connections and the business environment in one place. This gives Paldiski a very strong position to bring new investments, trade flows and energy and offshore industry projects to Estonia,” said Minister of Infrastructure Kuldar Leis in his speech at the opening of the quay.
The new quay built in Paldiski South Harbour is 310 meters long, the depth in front of the quay is 13.5 meters, and the quay includes a 10-hectare rear area. What makes the quay special is the very high load-bearing capacity of both the shore ramp and the rear area. While the load-bearing capacity of conventional shore ramps is approximately 90 tons, the load-bearing capacity of the shore ramp of the new Paldiski quay is 900 tons.
“The new quay, together with the Paldiski South Harbour Industrial Park, creates an environment that allows for the concentration of production, storage, and logistics in one integrated center and increases the competitiveness of the Port of Tallinn in the Baltic Sea region. We served the first ship with components for large-scale onshore wind farms already in March. The quay is still in use today, serving various ships calling at our port,” noted Valdo Kalm, Chairman of the Board of the Port of Tallinn.
Regular ro-ro lines connecting various European ports stop at Paldiski South Harbour, and the quays can also be used to service ro-ro ships if necessary. The large carrying capacity allows the port to also receive other oversized and heavy project cargo.
The pier was built by a consortium including Insenerehituse AS as the lead partner and Akciju Sabiedriba BMGS Estonian branch. The construction work was completed at the end of last year. The total investment was 64 million euros, of which 20 million euros was co-financed by the European Commission through the military mobility project EstMilMob.
At the grand opening ceremony, participants were able to see the port’s heavy equipment, including ro-ro trucks, wheel loaders, and a 150-ton mobile crane designed for intensive port operations and loading and unloading heavy cargo.
The opening of the pier took place as part of the investment conference “A Different Paldiski”. This year’s conference focused on energy and defense capabilities. Key players in security, energy and industry gathered on the Pakri Peninsula to discuss the future of the Baltic Sea region and Paldiski’s role in it.
The favorable location of the Paldiski South Harbour together with the new quay creates the prerequisites for the Port of Tallinn to become an important partner in the construction and subsequent maintenance of wind farms both at sea and on land. The new quay ensures the ability to receive special-purpose vessels with large drafts in the port. The extensive rear area allows for preparatory work for the handling, storage and further transport of wind generators and turbine blades. At the same time, the new infrastructure strengthens Estonia’s defense capability in receiving military equipment.
About the quay naming contest:
In April, a public naming competition for the new quay of the Paldiski South Harbour was announced. A total of 52 name proposals were received for the naming competition. The most popular were names related to the wind – for example, Tuuli, Tuul and Tuulekai. The Port of Tallinn jury selected four finalists from the submitted names: Tuuli, Rogervik, Thule, and Njord. Conference participants were able to choose their favorite among them. The name Tuuli won the vote, collecting 34% of the votes. Thule came in second place with 29% and Rogervik came in third with 23%. A total of 55 people participated in the second round of voting for the name.
The author and first proposer of the name Tuuli is Natalja Baidina, the Liquid Cargo Business Manager of the Port of Tallinn. Natalja wrote the following to justify the name: Tuuli is a very beautiful Estonian name. Tuuli is a nature-based name that is associated with the movement of air and can symbolize freedom, strength and change”. Such a characterization fits very well with the purpose of the new quay and the current time. In addition, each letter of the name TUULI can give us an important meaning/value: “T” – teotahe (will to act); “U” – usaldusväärtus (trustworthiness); “U” – uuendusmeelsus (innovativeness), “L” – leidlikkus (resourcefulness); “I” – iseseisvus (independence).
(Source: https://www.ts.ee/tallinna-sadam-avas-paldiski-lounasadamas-uue-multifunktsionaalse-kai-tuuli/)
