In 2021, 22.4 million tonnes of cargo and 3.5 million passengers passed through the harbours of Tallinna Sadam. The annual increase in cargo volume was 5%, which was driven by ro-ro and dry bulk. The number of passengers decreased by 18% as a result of the pandemic, while the number of vessel calls increased by 4% due to the continuation of cargo transportation on the international passenger lines. The number of passengers between the Estonian mainland and the main islands recovered from the last year restrictions on movement to the islands by 12% and 14% respectively. The number of charter days of the icebreaker Botnica decreased by 5% due to the shorter charter period of the Canadian project in Q4.

In Q4, the cargo volume of Tallinna Sadam was 4.7 million tonnes and 1.1 million passengers visited the harbours of Tallinna Sadam. Compared to Q4 2020, the cargo volume increased by 93% supported by Helsinki and Stockholm lines, whereas the cargo volume decreased by 19%. The number of vessel calls increased by 2% to 1809 calls. The number of passengers and vehicles travelling between the Estonian mainland and the main islands increased by 7%. and the utility rate of the icebreaker Botnica was 33%.

The cargo volume decreased in Q4 mainly due to the decrease in liquid bulk and dry bulk. The fall in dry bulk was mainly due to the decrease in the volumes of grain and fertilizers. "The decrease in liquid bulk in Q4 was due to the general downward trend in demand for liquid bulk terminal services, as the future price of the goods is cheaper than spot price. Terminal operators were also affected by the sharp rise in energy prices," said Valdo Kalm, chairman of the management board of Tallinna Sadam. "Annually, we increased the cargo volume by 5%, which was supported by the record volume of ro-ro cargo," explained Kalm.

The number of passengers increased sharply by 93% in Q4 but decreased by 18% year-on-year due to restrictions on movement related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a reduction in people's confidence and travel due to the instable situation. "In the pandemic period, i.e. from the second to fourth quarter, we still had 14% more passengers this year than in April-December last year, so it can be said that more flexible restrictions and adaptation to the situation have helped to restore passenger volumes, but at a slower pace than expected. The reopening of the Tallinn-Stockholm route in July and the return of cruise passengers to Tallinn made a significant contribution to the recovery," Kalm noted.

In this summer, people travelled to the Estonian islands with the ferries slightly more than a year before. The icebreaker Botnica continued the same course as last year but returned from the summer work in Canada a bit earlier than in 2020.

The operational volumes of Tallinna Sadam group for 2021 full year and Q4:

  Q4 2021 Q4 2020 Change 2021  2020 Change
Cargo volume by type of cargo
(th tonnes)		 4 688 5 790 -19,0% 22 397 21 327 5,0%
Liquid bulk 1 441 2 484 -42,0% 8 837 9 111 -3,0%
Ro-ro 1 671 1 465 14,0% 6 488 5 563 16,6%
Dry bulk 956 1 286 -25,6% 4 693 4 417 6,3%
Containers 502 458 9,4% 1 893 1 808 4,7%
in TEUs 60 536 56 031 8,0% 226 689 213 928 6,0%
General cargo 118 92 28,8% 485 410 18,2%
Non-marine 0 5 - 1 17 -
             
             
Number of passengers by routes (th) 1 215 630 93,0% 3 542 4 333 -18,2%
Tallinn-Helsinki 1 059 586 80,8% 3 012 3 987 -24,4%
Tallinn-Stockholm 103 2 - 208 140 48,8%
Muuga-Vuosaari 31 30 2,7% 130 118 9,6%
Tallinn-St.Petersburg 0 0 - 0 0 -
Cruise (traditional) 9 0 100,0% 63 0 100,0%
Other 13 12 9,4% 129 88 47,3%
             
             
Number of vessel calls by vessel type 1 809 1 768 2,3% 7 333 7 088 3,5%
Cargo vessels 367 394 -6,9% 1 654 1 637 1,0%
Passenger vessels (incl. Ro-Pax) 1 436 1 374 4,5% 5 634 5 451 3,4%
Cruise vessels (traditional) 6 0 - 45 0 -
             
Ferries*                                            
(Saaremaa and Hiiumaa lines)		            
Passengers (th) 445 416 7,1% 2 204 1 976 11,6%
Vehicles (th) 238 223 6,8% 1 100 963 14,2%
             
Icebreaker Botnica            
Charter days 30 42 -28,6% 236 249 -5,2%
Utility rate (%) 33% 46% 0 65% 68% -3,4%

*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 in xlsx format: https://www.ts.ee/en/investor/key-figures/

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. The group’s sales in 2020 totalled EUR 107.4 million, adjusted EBITDA EUR 58.4 million and profit EUR 28.5 million.

Additional information:

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

m.zirel@ts.ee

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  • Tallinna Sadam Q4 2021 KPI ENG

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