Safety cooperation concerning the use of shipping routes

Encounters between line ferries, road ferries and commuter ferries occur constantly on the Naantali route. No clear regulations have been issued on such encounters, nor have the authorities paid sufficient attention to the risks arising from them. In Sweden, the Sjöfartsverket navigation safety authority and pilots organize an annual route meeting between the users of the Stockholm shipping route to discuss safety and other issues that have arisen during the past year.

The Finnish Shipowner’s Association, together with the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, Finnpilot Pilotage Ltd and VTS Finland, develop the safety cooperation between lane users, lane managers and traffic control operators, along with the open sharing of information, for example with regular route meetings as is the practice in Sweden.

The cooperation model must enable confidential communications between shipping companies and the consequent exchange of information with the authorities.

Encounters between line ferries, road ferries and commuter ferries occur constantly on the Naantali route. No clear regulations have been issued on such encounters, nor have the authorities paid sufficient attention to the risks arising from them. In Sweden, the Sjöfartsverket navigation safety authority and pilots organize an annual route meeting between the users of the Stockholm shipping route to discuss safety and other issues that have arisen during the past year.