In 2020 Q2, 5.4 million tonnes of cargo and 531 thousand passengers passed through the harbours of Tallinna Sadam. Compared to the same period of previous year, the cargo volume increased by 2.5% and the number of passengers decreased by 81.7%. The number of vessel calls declined by 20.9% to 1612 calls.
According to Valdo Kalm, Chairman of the Management Board of Tallinna Sadam, the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic did not yet have a significant impact on cargo flows in the second quarter. The growth of cargo volume in Q2 was mostly influenced by the growth of liquid cargo, while the volumes of other cargo types decreased. “Thanks to the preservation of trade and vessel traffic during the COVID-19 emergency, we managed to maintain a stable level in the cargo business,” said Kalm. The decrease in the most decreased dry bulk cargo was caused mainly from the decrease in the volume of grain and fertilizers, the latter of which was related to the temporary closure of factories in Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Passenger numbers fell sharply in Q2 due to movement restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary closure of borders from March. Since the middle of May, when the Estonian-Finnish border was opened to passengers who need to travel the route for their work, the number of passengers has started to gradually recover. The growth rate accelerated significantly in June, when the borders were opened to most European arrivals. “If at the beginning of June we had 6-7 thousand passengers a day, then at the end of June this figure was already 18-20 thousand, which is about 50% of the volume we had in the June of last year. Growth is driven by the Tallinn-Helsinki route, which currently accounts for over 95% of total passenger traffic. The Tallinn-Stockholm route is still closed, and cruise ships probably will only come at the end of the season and even then, we will probably see only a few of them,” said Kalm. In the first half of the year, the decline was smaller due to a stable first quarter, as the pandemic only started to affect passenger transport in the second half of March.
Cargo volume by type of cargo, the number of passengers by route and vessel calls in 2020 Q2 and 6 months are presented in the table below:
| Q2 2020 | Q2 2019 | Change | 6M 2020 | 6M 2019 | Change | |
| Cargo volume by type of cargo (th tonnes) | 5 421 | 5 290 | 2.5% | 10 235 | 10 009 | 2.3% |
| Liquid bulk | 2 555 | 2 091 | 22.2% | 4 716 | 4 045 | 16.6% |
| Ro-ro | 1 349 | 1 411 | -4.4% | 2 682 | 2 685 | -0.1% |
| Dry bulk | 947 | 1 134 | -16.5% | 1 714 | 1 957 | -12.4% |
| Containers | 432 | 458 | -5.9% | 888 | 948 | -6.3% |
| in TEUs | 53 956 | 53 691 | 0.5% | 104 465 | 113 296 | -7.8% |
| General cargo | 137 | 196 | -30.3% | 234 | 374 | -37.5% |
| Non-marine | 2 | 0 | 613.4% | 2 | 1 | 253.3% |
| Number of passengers by routes (th) | 531 | 2 907 | -81.7% | 2 083 | 4 697 | -55.6% |
| Tallinn-Helsinki | 489 | 2 353 | -79.2% | 1 883 | 3 968 | -52.5% |
| Tallinn-Stockholm | 0 | 265 | -100.0% | 136 | 416 | -67.3% |
| Muuga-Vuosaari | 28 | 12 | 130.3% | 43 | 22 | 96.0% |
| Tallinn-St.Petersburg | 0 | 25 | -100.0% | 0 | 28 | -100.0% |
| Cruise (traditional) | 0 | 241 | -100.0% | 0 | 241 | -100.0% |
| Other | 13 | 11 | 25.4% | 20 | 21 | -4.9% |
| Number of vessel calls by vessel type | 1 612 | 2 039 | -20.9% | 3 197 | 3 671 | -12.9% |
| Cargo vessels | 440 | 483 | -8.9% | 817 | 904 | -9.6% |
| Passenger vessels (incl. Ro-Pax) | 1 172 | 1 430 | -18.0% | 2 380 | 2 641 | -9.9% |
| Cruise vessels (traditional) | 0 | 126 | -100.0% | 0 | 126 | -100.0% |
More detailed statistics of passengers by nationality, gender and routes on monthly basis, can be viewed on the Tallinna Sadam web page: https://www.ts.ee/en/statistics/. We now also publish quarterly key figures 2014-2020 in xlsx format: https://www.ts.ee/en/investor/key-figures/
Tallinna Sadam is one of the largest cargo- and passenger port complexes in the Baltic Sea region, which in 2019 serviced 10.64 million passengers and 19.9 million tons of cargo. In addition to passenger and freight services, Tallinna Sadam group also operates in shipping business via its subsidiaries – OÜ TS Laevad provides ferry services between the Estonian mainland and the largest islands, and OÜ TS Shipping charters its multifunctional vessel Botnica for icebreaking and construction services in Estonia and offshore projects abroad. Tallinna Sadam group is also a shareholder of an associate AS Green Marine, which provides waste management services. According to audited financial results, Tallinna Sadam group’s sales in 2019 totaled EUR 130.5 million, adjusted EBITDA EUR 74.3 million and net profit EUR 44.4 million.
Additional information:
Marko Raid
Member of the Management Board/CFO
AS Tallinna Sadam
m.raid@ts.ee