Cross-Border Collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chairman of the Executive Board of the Municipality of Ume\u00e5, Mr. Hans Lindberg<\/strong>, welcomed the participants to a rapidly growing and developing Ume\u00e5 and enlightened them of the concrete collaboration between the ports of Ume\u00e5 and Vaasa. Mr. Per Olov Lingwall<\/strong>, the National Coordinator of the Swedish CEF Transport Secretariat (part of the Swedish Transport Administration), reviewed in his opening speech the CEF and TEN-T financing opportunities from Sweden\u2019s national perspective.<\/p>\n Simpson, the Coordinator of the MoS programme, has already previously acquainted himself with the Midway Alignment project and its operators, and he considers the cooperation between the two cities \u2013 located in different countries and separated by the sea \u2013 as an innovative example of cross-border collaboration. He asked for feedback from the conference participants regarding the MoS programme, because he is currently drafting a plan of implementation for its next programme period.<\/p>\n The President of Region V\u00e4sterbotten, Mr. Erik Bergkvist<\/strong>, reminded the participants that the Kvarken has always been a place of cross-border cooperation. The importance of regular ferry traffic is considerable for Ume\u00e5 and Vaasa’s economic life, administration and education. Moreover, a functional transport connection is needed to maintain regional cooperation between Norway, Sweden and Finland.<\/p>\n Passage to the Northern Sea Route<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Paul Holthus<\/strong>, the CEO of World Ocean Council, talked on the first seminar day of the future prospects of the North-East Passage. Global warming and Russia\u2019s plans to bring sturdier icebreaking vessels to the region increase the Northern Sea Route\u2019s attractiveness as a passage between Europe and Asia as well as Europe and North America. The shorter route saves both travel time and costs, but only if the ice conditions and safety issues can be solved.<\/p>\n The increase in traffic along the Northern Sea Route is likely to increase traffic also in Northern Norway\u2019s ports. Mr. Arne Langset<\/strong>, Head of Secretariat at Indre Helgeland Regionr\u00e5d (Norway), believed that the significance of the transverse transport route (supported by the Midway Alignment and E12 projects) is likely to increase simultaneously as the status of the Northern Sea Route rises. For example, the route considerably shortens the travel time of export products from Southern Finland to Asia. Mr. \u00c5sunn Lyngedal<\/strong>, Senior Adviser from the Port of Narvik in Norway, agreed with Langset and reminded the participants that the Narvik port is a good example of cross-border cooperation. The port was originally founded as an exporting port for Kiruna\u2019s mining industry in Sweden.<\/p>\n Shortest Route from Sweden to Finland<\/strong><\/p>\n The shortest maritime route from Sweden to Finland lies between Ume\u00e5 and Vaasa. At the same time, it is Europe\u2019s northernmost year-round and regular shipway utilized by, for instance, the companies Komatsu Forest and Rotator Systems, who sell forest machines and their components to Finland and Russia. From their perspective, the market areas of Eastern Finland and Russia are best accessible across the Kvarken and Finland. Ume\u00e5\u2019s General Manager for Logistics, Mr. Krister Rosendahl<\/strong>, states that Komatsu\u2019s commitment to the Midway Alignment project is an investment in the future. Likewise to Rosendahl, Mr. Lennart Eriksson<\/strong>, the Area Sales Manager of Rotator Systems, hopes for the further development of the route.<\/p>\n Terminal Manager Ms. Margaretha Gustafsson<\/strong> has been involved in the development of the Midway Alignment project since its beginning. Together with Mr. Per Anders Westin<\/strong> they spoke of how important the route between Ume\u00e5 and Vaasa is for SCA Logistics AB\u2019s paper exports.<\/p>\n Shipping in Remote and Peripheral Regions<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Vitor Fraga<\/strong>, Minister responsible for Tourism and Transport in the Regional Government of the Azores, spoke of the island\u2019s transport situation and future plans. Ms. Cl\u00e1udia Monteiro de Aguiar<\/strong>, Member of the European Parliament, related in her video message the maritime shipping strategies in Europe\u2019s remote and peripheral regions and presented as an example the archipelago of Madeira, which is under the administration of Portugal. Her presentation was followed by the speechof her Policy Adviser Ms. Ana Filipa Da Costa Ferreira<\/strong>. Mr. Nu\u00f1o Jesus<\/strong>, on the other hand, spoke of the constraints of maritime transport in the islands, whereas Dr.Panayotis Zacharioudakis<\/strong> introduced the situation in the Greek archipelago and Cyprus as an example of the state of Europe\u2019s remote regions.<\/p>\n Mr. Peter St\u00e5hlberg<\/strong>, Managing Director of the Wasaline\/NCL Ferry shipping company (jointly owned by Ume\u00e5 and Vaasa), spoke of slightly different shipping conditions as the seminar day continued on the Wasa Express ferry operating between Ume\u00e5 and Vaasa. St\u00e5hlberg described the Kvarken\u2019s traffic conditions and Wasaline\u2019s year-round connection and its development and challenges. The official part of the day was concluded by Mr. Mathias Lindstr\u00f6m<\/strong>, Director of the Kvarken Council, with the presentation of the E12 Atlantica Transport project and transport concept.<\/p>\n \u00a0 The KvarkenMos conference, belonging to the Motorways of the Sea seminar series, began with a dinner hosted by Region V\u00e4sterbotten in Ume\u00e5, Sweden, on Wednesday evening, April 20th 2016. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"amnen":[90],"class_list":["post-8747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","amnen-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/resizedimage600398-IMG-5.jpg\")
Mr. Brian Simpson, Coordinator of the TEN-T\/Motorways of the Sea (MoS) programme preparing for his presentation and Ms. Anna M\u00e5tts,\u00a0Project Manager E12 Atlantica Transport helping Mr. Simpson.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/resizedimage600400-IMG-6.jpg\")
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 All KvarkenMos speakers in Ume\u00e5 21st April 2016<\/em>, Ume\u00e5 Text: Johanna Haveri<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"