The European Commission has approved €91.01m in funding for Finland under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to support nine national transport projects, the Finnish ministry of transport and communications confirmed on Thursday. Of this, around €59.60m will go to government initiatives.
The largest share, around €42.22m, will be used to acquire a new Baltic Sea class B icebreaker under the WINMOS IV project.
The vessel’s concept is currently being developed under the WINMOS III project, which also receives CEF funding. In total, €80.78m was awarded to the project, shared between Finland, Sweden and Estonia.
Finland’s new vessel will replace ageing icebreaking capacity. Procurement will begin in autumn 2025 with a market dialogue as part of a call for tenders for a shipyard.
The construction is expected to start in early 2026, with the vessel entering service in autumn 2029.
As it is reported, the Finnish transport infrastructure agency will oversee the project.
Meanwhile, private sector operators will also receive CEF funding for the development of the maritime traffic connection between the ports of Helsinki and Lübeck (€12.03m to Port of Helsinki Ltd) and for the development of the maritime traffic connection between Hanko and Rostock (€7.85 to Port of Hanko Ltd).
Furthermore, the Fintraffic Vessel Traffic Services Ltd, the Finnish meteorological institute and private operators will receive around €4.87m for a joint project with Swedish and Spanish partners to develop vessel traffic services, the related information systems and other services.
“This is a fantastic outcome. We applied for EU funding for critical infrastructure – and we got it. Especially the funding secured for the new icebreaker and main road 21 will both strengthen Finland’s security of supply and military mobility and facilitate foreign trade,” said Finnish minister of transport and communications Lulu Ranne.
