Fairway Forward – Leading the way towards a greener and smarter maritime cluster

20. November 2019

In order to spread knowledge and foster collaboration in Finland and Sweden, the Fairway Forward seminar and think tank for green and smart shipping was organised on November 20^th in Helsinki. The program included best practice case examples from each country and a panel discussion with top industry leaders and politicians. Both Finns and Swedes from different parts of the maritime sector were present in the audience.

 

“Interest for the seminar surpassed our expectations and it was great to see that the seminar venue at Oodi in central Helsinki was packed. The enthusiasm in the field towards the issues of developing green and innovative maritime logistics is clear. Today highlighted the demand for a platform of collaboration and learning, that Fairway Forward is aiming to respond to.”, says Annaleena Mäkilä, CEO for the Finnish Port Association.

The seminar kicked off with a keynote speech by Helena Tuuri, the ambassador for the Baltic Sea of Finland. Best practice cases included presentations by Wallenius, Rauma Marine Constructions, Forsea, Ports of Helsinki and Gävle and automation collaboration One Sea.  The cases considered both digitalisation and environmental issues. The seminar culminated in an interesting think tank discussion between participants.

-“It is important for us to collaborate in order to learn from each other and create innovations. Finland and Sweden have the high level of knowledge and skilled professionals, that is needed to develop greener and smarter shipping. The Nordic countries are leading the way towards an environmentally friendly and sustainable maritime sector. “says Rikard Engström, CEO for Swedish Shipowners’ Association.

Fairway Forward is a collaboration project between the Finnish and Swedish maritime clusters. Established in the beginning of 2019, the aim of the project is to share best practices and collaborate to reach environmental and climate goals in the maritime sector. Participating organizations in Fairway Forward are Swedish Shipowners´ Association, Swedish Ports, Finnish Shipowners´ Association, Finnish Ports Association together with the Finnish Port Operators Association and the Finnish Marine Industries. The city of Helsinki also contributed to organising the event.