Guidelines and regulations
About Pilotage
Finland’s wellbeing depends on the smooth flow of maritime transport. Pilotage ensures the safe passage of vessels through our country’s narrow and rocky archipelago channels.
Finland’s wellbeing and competitiveness rely heavily on maritime transport: as much as 97% of exports and imports pass through the Baltic Sea. Smooth and safe maritime transport is a critical component of national security of supply.
Pilotage ensures that vessels navigate safely in challenging conditions within Finnish territorial waters — through narrow channels, fragmented archipelagos, and shallow sea areas — in all situations, year-round.
At the heart of pilotage operations is the protection of the fragile Baltic Sea from the harmful impacts of vessel traffic. A pilot with local knowledge is an invaluable aid to the ship’s master for safe channel navigation and often also for port maneuvering.
The costs of organizing pilotage operations and maintaining the nationwide service network are covered by pilotage fees.
Finnpilot provides cost-efficient and high-quality pilotage services.
Finnpilot Pilotage Ltd is a state-owned special assignment company responsible for providing pilotage services in Finland. Finnpilot’s pilots are trained to navigate even in exceptional and disruptive situations. Finnpilot helps ensure maritime safety, security of supply, and the competitiveness of Finland’s exports and imports — even under exceptional circumstances.
Pilotage services in Finland are available with minimal waiting times. In 2024, Finnpilot delivered its services within the service level target waiting times (a maximum of three hours in sea areas) for more than 99.5% of pilotage orders. Pilotage pricing in Finland is highly competitive by international standards, despite the challenging conditions.
Customers of pilotage services in Finland are, according to customer surveys, highly satisfied with the service provided by Finnpilot.
Finnpilot’s stakeholders are satisfied
The Reputation & Trust Survey conducted by T-Media in 2024 assessed Finnpilot’s current reputation and stakeholder expectations. According to the study, Finnpilot’s reputation is on solid ground, with safety, expertise, and responsible operations emerging as key strengths.
The results show that Finnpilot is perceived as a reliable and socially significant operator, with services that are an essential part of ensuring smooth maritime transport in Finland. Finnpilot thanks its customers and stakeholders for their trust: we will continue working to keep service quality high in the future!
DEEFBACK FROM CUSTOMER SURVEY
“The customer interface works excellently. The pilots are top professionals in their field. Pilot dispatch works very well, and communication flows smoothly in both directions.”