Starting 1 February 2026, a pilot phase of a new departure permission procedure will be launched at the Port of Hanko. With the procedure, Fintraffic’s Vessel Traffic Services and the Port of Hanko will ensure smooth and safe traffic as traffic volumes increase in the Port of Hanko’s harbours. The purpose of the pilot is to ensure the efficiency of the procedure before it enters into the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency’s regulation “Traffic rules for VTS areas”.
“The Port of Hanko is Finland’s largest semi-trailer port, with more than five million tonnes of goods and more than one thousand vessels passing through it. The aim of the new departure clearance procedure is to streamline the flow of vessels in our port while ensuring their safer movement,” explains Anders Ahlvik, CEO, Port of Hanko.
In the procedure, Fintraffic’s Vessel Traffic Services will be responsible for granting or denying the permissions for departing. The departure clearance procedure will be implemented as part of vessel traffic services. Without the permission from the VTS Centre, a vessel may not depart from the berth.
“Permission to depart granted by Hanko VTS ensures that at the time of vessel’s departure the traffic situation and conditions are safe, and there are no oncoming traffic or other factors that could lead to undesirable situations. This procedure supports efficient and proactive traffic coordination in busy areas, and is widely used across busy ports,” says Esa Kallio, Development Manager at Fintraffic’s Vessel Traffic Services.
The procedure concerns vessels departing from the Port of Hanko’s Western Harbour, Outer Harbour, and Koverhar Harbour. The vessels will request the departure permission from the Fintraffic VTS Centre (Hanko VTS), which will assess the traffic situation and grant permission if the vessel can depart safely. When granted, permission to depart is valid for 10 minutes.
Departure permission procedure in the Western Harbour
- Grounds for denying the permission to depart: Permission to depart will not be granted if there is other traffic in the harbour area, or an inbound vessel is less than 10 minutes from Meijerfelt.
- When a vessel departs: A vessel that has been granted permission to depart must give a departure report when they leave the berth. If the vessel is not ready to depart within 10 minutes after being granted permission, they must request a new permission to depart.
- Instructing the inbound traffic: If a vessel in the harbour has been granted permission to depart, the VTS Centre will instruct the inbound traffic to arrange the meeting south of Meijerfelt.
Departure permission procedure at the Outer Harbour
- Grounds for denying the permission to depart Permission to depart will not be granted if an inbound vessel is less than 10 minutes from the Tullisalmi meeting and overtaking prohibition area.
- When a vessel departs: A vessel that has been granted permission to depart must give a departure report when they leave the berth. If the vessel is not ready to depart within 10 minutes after being granted permission, they must request a new permission to depart.
Permission to depart procedure in Koverhar
- When a vessel departs: A vessel that has been granted permission to depart must give a departure report when they leave the berth. If the vessel is not ready to depart within 10 minutes after being granted permission, they must request a new permission to depart.
Vessels may agree on changes to their order of departure with one another if they wish. Even then, meetings must only take place south of Meijerfelt or outside the Tullisalmi meeting and overtaking prohibition area. Koverhar does not have similar fixed grounds for not granting permission to depart. Instead, situations are resolved on a case-by-case basis due to a lower traffic volumes.
Departure permission procedures also apply to port’s internal traffic when a vessel moves from one berth to another.
Departure permission procedures do not apply to tugboats assisting in the Port of Hanko. Instead, these vessels only give a report when leaving their berth. The activities of assisting tugboats do not affect the granting of permission to depart for other traffic.
