In 2020 Q4, 5.8 million tonnes of cargo and 0.6 million 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 73%. The number of vessel calls declined by 7% to 1768 calls. The number of passengers travelling between the Estonian mainland and the main islands decreased by 10%, but the number of vehicles increased by 3% and the number of charter days of the icebreaker Botnica decreased by 25% compared to the same period of previous year.

In 2020, the total cargo volume of Tallinna Sadam was 21.3 million tons, increasing by 7% compared to the previous year, driven by strong growth in the volume of liquid cargo. The number of passengers decreased by 59% to 4.3 million as a result of the pandemic, while the number of vessel calls decreased by only 9.8% due to the continuation of cargo transportation on the international passenger lines. The number of passengers between the Estonian mainland and the main islands decreased by 18% and the number of vehicles by 8% due to the restrictions related to the pandemic. The number of charter days of the icebreaker Botnica decreased by 5% due to the shorter charter period of the Canadian project in Q4, caused by the decline in the iron ore export volumes related to the impact of the pandemic on the customer's mining operations.

According to Valdo Kalm, Chairman of the Management Board of Tallinna Sadam, the company's balanced business model including four business areas has proven itself particularly well in today's corona era. "Due to the pandemic, our passenger business is suffering significantly, but at the same time the cargo volume has grown strongly reaching a record level of the last five years, shipping business in the form of ferries and icebreaker Botnica has continued on a stable course," said Kalm.

Cargo volume increased in Q4 and also annually, primarily supported by liquid cargo, due to successful cooperation between the port and operators and their customers. At the same time, liquid cargo products continue to be a project-based rather niche product business, the continuous growth of which cannot be expected. The volume of ro-ro cargo also increased due to the preserved number and frequency of liner vessel calls and a slight increase in the demand of road transport.

The decline in passenger numbers was due to a reduction in people's confidence and travel due to the constantly changing movement restrictions and instability imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic during the year. "In 2020, we have lost more than half of our passengers, but thanks to state support for passenger operators to maintain the movement of cargo with the same ro-pax vessels, international passenger shipping lines continue operations and ship operators are ready to serve passengers in the same volume again as the situation normalizes. From the new year, we also expect the return of cruise tourists and at least a partial recovery of tourism," said Kalm.

The operational volumes of Tallinna Sadam group for 2020 Q4 and full year are presented in the following table:

  Q4 2020 Q4 2019 Change 2020 2019 Change
Cargo volume by type of cargo
(th tonnes)		 5 790 5 647 2,5% 21 327 19 931 7,0%
Liquid bulk 2 484 2 459 1,0% 9 111 7 619 19,6%
Ro-ro 1 465 1 327 10,4% 5 563 5 365 3,7%
Dry bulk 1 286 1 312 -2,0% 4 417 4 514 -2,1%
Containers 458 441 4,1% 1 808 1 835 -1,5%
in TEUs 56 031 52 971 5,8% 213 928 222 607 -3,9%
General cargo 92 109 -15,8% 410 595 -31,1%
Non-marine 5 0 - 17 4 376,1%
       
Number of passengers by routes (th) 630 2 342 -73,1% 4 333 10 639 -59,3%
Tallinn-Helsinki 586 2 051 -71,4% 3 987 8 798 -54,7%
Tallinn-Stockholm 2 218 -99,2% 140 933 -85,0%
Muuga-Vuosaari 30 36 -16,5% 118 114 3,8%
Tallinn-St.Petersburg 0 11 -100,0% 0 70 -100,0%
Cruise (traditional) 0 19 -100,0% 0 660 -100,0%
Other 12 7 67,4% 87 64 36,5%
       
Number of vessel calls by vessel type 1 768 1 893 -6,6% 7 088 7 854 -9,8%
Cargo vessels 394 386 2,1% 1 637 1 743 -6,1%
Passenger vessels (incl. Ro-Pax) 1 374 1 498 -8,3% 5 451 5 766 -5,5%
Cruise vessels (traditional) 0 9 -100,0% 0 345 -100,0%
             
Ferries*                                            
(Saaremaa and Hiiumaa lines)		            
Passengers (th) 416 464 -10,4% 1 976 2 396 -17,5%
Vehicles (th) 223 217 2,7% 963 1 046 -8,0%
             
Icebreaker Botnica            
Charter days 42 56 -25,0% 249 261 -4,6%

*Ferry traffic volumes show the general demand for the service, but do not directly affect the financial results of the ferry segment, as the fee is fixed in the service contract regardless of the number of passengers and vehicles served.

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/
Detailed statistics on the number of passengers and vehicles on passenger ferries: https://www.praamid.ee/wp/statistics/

Tallinna Sadam is one of the largest cargo- and passenger port complexes in the Baltic Sea region, which serves annually 10 million passengers and 20 million tons of cargo in average. 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:

Marju Zirel
Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +372 5342 6591

m.zirel@ts.ee

Attachment

  • Tallinna Sadam KPI Q4 2020 ENG

© OMX, source OMX