Finnish port temporarily dismisses all staff

The Port of Helsinki said on 20 May that the pandemic and related travel restrictions have significantly impacted its business activity.

“Because of this, we have been forced to start extensive cost reductions. As a part of the reduction plan, the Port of Helsinki Ltd and its employees have agreed that the Port’s personnel will be temporarily dismissed,” it said.

Port personnel will be dismissed for 30 days between the start of August and the end of the year, and for a maximum of 30 days in early 2021. The port aims to minimise operational disruption.

On 13 May, the port reported that cargo traffic operations remain strong, but said the pandemic has had a strong impact on the passenger traffic.

Last month, Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP), which operates the Port of Copenhagen in Denmark and the Port of Malmö in Sweden, said it was forced to begin redundancy proceedings affecting 40 employees in Malmö.

While ports have remained open globally to commercial trade, cruise operations have closed with those cruise ships still at sea struggling to find a port to berth at.