Nordic-Baltic Maritime Forum in Helsinki: Different approaches to tackling the energy transition amidst geopolitical turbulence

27. March 2026

The Nordic-Baltic Maritime Forum kicked off in Helsinki this week.

The Maritime Forum brought together an international crowd of maritime professionals to discuss current maritime topics from the Nordic-Baltic perspective 23.-26.3.2026.

The event encompassed a versatile agenda, with site visits to the P2X hydrogen plant in Harjavalta and the Port of Helsinki. It included an afternoon dedicated to discussing maritime resilience and preparedness in the Baltic Sea area at the Nordic-Baltic Maritime Resilience Summit. During Innovation Day delegates had the chance to discover innovative approaches to developing maritime operations.

The week culminated in a headline conference featuring high level key notes from David Osborn, Director of Marine Environment Division at International Maritime Organization, Maja Markovčić Kostelac, Executive Director at European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping Oy and President of European Shipowners (ECSA).

Lulu Ranne, Minister of Transport and Communications, opened the conference with a speech urging the Nordic and Baltic countries to intensify cooperation in order to tackle mutual challenges.

The geopolitical turbulence, acceleration of oil prices, and the need for a just energy transition in order to tackle emissions were at the center of discussions throughout the agenda. The message from the industry was clear: while the path to lowering emissions looks different for each actor, predictability and simplicity in regulation and policies is a prerequisite for achieving net zero.

The funding of the energy transition was also a predominant topic of discussion. Assigning ETS funds gathered from the maritime actors, back to the maritime community in order to help fund the green transition was urged. Another important step forward would be efforts to even out the price difference between clean and fossil fuels. Comparable decisions have already been adopted, for example regarding the use of ETS funds in Estonia and regarding the equalization of fuel price differences in the UK.

The event was organized by ship.energy and supported by the local maritime cluster organisations: The Finnish Shipowners’ Association, The Finnish Ports Association and Finnish Marine Industries.

Mats Björkendahl, specialist of Environmental and Technical Affairs at the Finnish Shipowners’ Association moderated a panel with shipowners and fuel producers. Panelists from the left: Björn Blomqvist, Managing Director Rederi Ab Eckerö and Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Shipowners’ Association, Laura Langh-Lagerlöf, Managing Director Langh Group Oy Ab, Felix Leworthy, Chief Commercial Officer ETFuels, Jussi Rämä, Technical Sales Manager P2X Solutions, Thomas Doepel, President & CEO Finnlines.

Lulu Ranne, Minister of Transport and Communications, opened the headline conference with a welcome speech.

Dialogue and discussions were active amongst delegates throughout the event.