Major Finnish stevedore Steveco Oy began operations in 1884. At that time, the port of Kotka was full of sailing
ships, with up to ten vessels at anchor. The loading of the ships took place in the old manner:
stevedores rowed to the ship, which was lying in the roadstead, and the contract was agreed
with the skipper by shaking hands. Mr. Jöns Bruhn saw a market niche and Bruhn’s
stevedoring company — one of Steveco Oy’s predecessors — was officially registered.
Operations today are rather different. Today, vessels visit the
port according to strict timetables, with each handling operation
agreed beforehand. Steveco is now the largest company in
Finland specializing in cargo handling and logistics services. It
operates in the ports of Kotka and Helsinki. Steveco’s subsidiary
company Saimaa Terminals Oy operates in the Port of Hamina
and Lake Saimaa area.
In 2008, Steveco Oy handled 1.4mt (million tonnes) at
Mussalo Bulk Terminal, and 0.5mt of fertilizer.
Steveco Oy’s major customers in terms of bulk handling are
importers of raw materials for the Finnish forestry industry.
Major fertilizer customers are Russian manufacturers.
Steveco is very well equipped to handle fertilizer. It has
specialized fertilizer warehouses, which have unloading stations
for rail wagons. These warehouses are each 8,160m2 in size,
offering a storage capacity of 45,000 to 50,000 tonnes. Steveco
also has one 750tph (tonnes per hour) shiploader to load
fertilizer, as well as multipurpose cranes.
Steveco’s fertilizer unloading process is the closed conveyor
system, which means that it is able to be completely
environmentally friendly in its cargo handling. Proper
transportation systems for shiploading also help contribute to this.
Currently, fertilizer handling is lower than in the late 1990s
when it handled between 1mt and 1.5mt of fertilizer a year.
Today annual throughput of fertilizer is approximately 0.5mt.
Steveco also handles other raw materials, including china clay
and limestone, for the forestry industry.
Steveco’s annual stevedoring volume totals approximately
10mt. The major exports for Steveco are paper, timber, pulp and
fertilizer, while imports are dominated by industrial raw
materials, general cargo and coal. Transit traffic mainly consists
of containers.
Since Jöns Bruhn’s days Steveco and its predecessors have
offered shipbroker services for the inward and outward
clearance of vessels. Ship’s clearance and cargo documentation
are in the hand of Dahlberg’s Agency, which is part of the
Steveco Group.
Steveco also offers all the forwarding and transport services
as well as the tailored warehousing and handling services.
Steveco International Logistics division has a solution, which
covers all of the necessary issues and stages.