As of today, Rosmorport's Kapitan Izmailov icebreaker is providing icebreaking assistance while entering the Russian portion of the Saimaa Canal.

Meteor (Finland), Protector (Estonia), Calypso (Finland) with the detachable bow Saimaa, operated by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, service the following ships on the Saimaa Canal and on the lakes in Finland.

The canal navigation service will open on 22 March 2021. The canal's hydraulic engineering structures will undergo maintenance and planned repair by that time.

The amount of cargo carried by the Saimaa Canal increased by 11.5 percent year-on-year to 1.17 million tonnes in January-December 2020, as stated earlier.

The majority of cargo turnover is made up of raw timber, sawn wood, paper and cellulose, coal and coke, as well as mineral fertilizers and raw minerals.

In the 2020 navigation season, 1,019 cargo ships using the canal, a 10 percent rise year-on-year. The number of ships flying the Russian Federation's flag accounts for 59 percent of the total number of ships (596). It grew year on year by 21.4 percent.

The Saimaa Canal links the Gulf of Finland with Lake Saimaa. A land area leased from Russia runs along almost half of the Saimaa Canal. The eight locks of the Saimaa Canal are controlled at Mälkiä and Brusnitchnoe via remote control centres.

The Saimaa Canal is 57.3 kilometers long, including the sea fairway, built in 1856 and renovated in 1963-1968.

Maritime Business World