Finnpilot to undergo reorganisation as of 1 October 2020

Finnpilot’s present six pilotage areas will be merged to form four pilotage areas. New District Managers have been appointed to head the pilotage areas. At the same time, an Operational Executive Committee will be established for Finnpilot. The organisational change, which was planned in close co-operation with the personnel, will take effect on 1 October 2020.

The key aspects of Finnpilot’s strategy include a customer-oriented approach, an improved operational capacity and shared learning. The reorganisation has two concrete goals that are derived from the company strategy:

1. More resources for management and customer work.
2. Efficient decision-making, information dissemination and implementation and monitoring of development projects.

The new District Managers have all previously worked as Chief District Pilots and will focus on management and customer work within their own designated areas. The close contact with every day pilotage work and its challenges will be sustained through close co-operation with Finnpilot’s competent and experienced personnel.

Pilotage areas and District Managers

According to the new organisational structure, the pilotage areas and their District Managers are:

• Bay of Bothnia, District Manager Ilkka Sipilä
• Archipelago Sea–Bothnian Sea, District Manager Ari Saari
• Hanko–Helsinki, District Manager Jukka Ketonen
• Kotka–Saimaa, District Manager Sami Saarinen

Operational Executive Committee

As a result of the organisational changes, an Operational Executive Committee will be established for Finnpilot to be headed by Sanna Sonninen, Pilotage Director, and comprised of all the District Managers; Aki Marjasvaara, Transport Director; Jutta Heinisuo, Pilot Dispatch Manager; Pasi Paldanius, HSEQ Manager; and Laura Kaustinen, Communications Manager. The Operational Executive Committee will meet regularly as a means of improving the decision-making process and exchange of information between the different areas. The Operational Executive Committee will also play an important role in promoting and monitoring Finnpilot’s current and future development projects.

The pilotage dispatch zones and pilot stations will remain the same

The organisational changes will not affect the number of pilotage zones and pilot stations. Finnpilot’s pilotage zones are:

• Southern pilotage zone: Emäsalo, Helsinki, Porkkala and Hanko
• Eastern pilotage zone: Kotka, Hamina (Orrengrund, Haapasaari and Santio), Lake Saimaa and the Saimaa Canal
• Western pilotage zone: Archipelago Sea (Turku, Utö, Isokari and Maarianhamina), Bothnian Sea (Rauma, Pori, Kristiinankaupunki and Kaskinen) and the Bay of Bothnia (Vaasa, Pietarsaari, Kokkola, Kalajoki, Raahe, Oulu, Kemi and Tornio)

For further information about the organisational changes, contact Kari Kosonen, CEO, tel. +358 (0)40 741 4625, kari.kosonen@finnpilot.fi or Sanna Sonninen, Pilotage Director, tel. +358 (0)40 829 9769, sanna.sonninen@finnpilot.fi.

SETTING THE COURSE

Pilotage ensures navigational safety and efficiency within Finland’s rocky fairways.

Finnpilot is an entirely state-owned special assignment company that has the exclusive statutory right to carry out pilotage activities in Finland.  There are more than one thousand compulsory pilotage fairways. Finnpilot has in total a personnel of 300. In 2019, Finnpilot handled a total of 25,000 pilot assignments covering nearly 500,000 piloted nautical miles. The company’s turnover in 2019 was 40.9 MEUR with an operating profit of 2.6 MEUR.