Sörnäinen Harbour

Sörnäinen Harbour (Finnish: Sörnäisten satama, Swedish: Sörnäs hamn) was for nearly one and a half centuries a major harbour and freight terminal in the Port of Helsinki, located in the Sörnäinen district on the eastern shore of the Helsinki city centre area.^[2]

Sörnäinen Harbour
Aerial view of Sörnäinen Harbour in 1994, looking north, with the Hanasaari Power Plant seen on the left
Native name	Sörnäisten satama – Sörnäs hamn
Location
Country	Finland
Location	Sörnäinen, Helsinki
Coordinates	60.1795°N 24.9752°E / 60.1795; 24.9752
Details
Opened	1863
Closed	2008
Operated by	Port of Helsinki
Owned by	City of Helsinki
Type of harbour	Coastal natural
Draft depth	9.6 metres (31 ft)[1]

It was opened in 1863 to serve mainly the country's timber export trade, in 1889 an oil import terminal was added, and more recently containerised cargo and some passenger traffic.^[2][3] The harbour was finally closed down after 145 years of operation in November 2008, when the new Vuosaari Harbour was opened in the eastern suburb, and the facilities moved there.^[3][4] The only remaining functions relate to the adjacent Hanasaari Power Plant, which is itself being gradually decommissioned.^[2]

The port facilities were connected to the rail network at Pasila station via a branch line called Sörnäinen harbour rail, which originally ran through Vallila, but which in 1965 was re-routed around the inner city area via Kumpula.^[5]

Since its closure, the harbour area has been redeveloped for residential, retail and leisure use, as part of the Kalasatama development.^[2]

The harbour was also commonly referred to as 'Sompasaari Harbour', after a small island which originally was located immediately to its south, but which the harbour development had subsumed under reclaimed land.^[3]

References

1. "Fairway card - Helsinki 9.6m" (PDF) (in Finnish). Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
2. "Pilvenpiirtäjien varjossa – radioessee Kalasatamasta muistuttaa sataman kolmesta vaiheesta". Radio 1 (in Finnish). Yle. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
3. "Historia" (in Finnish). Port of Helsinki. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
4. "Sörnäisten satama muuttaa yhdessä yössä". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 17 November 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
5. "Kumpulan satamarata käyttöön (reprint)". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 19 October 1965. Retrieved 13 August 2023.