History stories
The first terminal building in the Port of Naantali had been completed in 1965. The terminal was a simple building. As the traffic volumes increased, a decision was made to build a new and more functional terminal. In 1972, Naantalin Matkustajaterminaali Oy was founded with the City of Naantali and Viking Line as shareholders. The…
A great deal happened in the Port of Naantali in 1967. Train ferry traffic had started in the spring, and in the autumn of the same year Viking Line’s first vessels Kapella and Apollo started sailing from Naantali to Sweden. The ice conditions had been severe in the previous winter, and the Pikku Pukki straits…
In March 1967, a streamlined Swedish ship called S/S Starke built in the 1930s arrived in the Port of Naantali. The vessel started train ferry traffic of Finnish and Swedish State Railways from Naantali to Stockholm. The starting of the ferry traffic had an important effect on the development of the Port of Naantali. Over…
The first passenger ferry, Silja Line’s M/S Holmia, arrived in Naantali on its maiden voyage on 2 December 1965. The vessel moored on what was then Mobil’s quay. The first terminal building in the Port of Naantali had been completed just before Holmia’s arrival in Naantali. Silja Line tried operating passenger traffic to Naantali, but…
In 1963, Naantali received Finland’s first modern harbour ice-breaker and tugboat, M/S Naantali. The ice-breaker helped with wintertime seafaring and gained appreciation for Naantali in the seafaring circles. The vessel had a crew of five, including its own cook. Previously there had been just old ice-breaker Turso in Helsinki. M/S Naantali broke ice and carried…
On the dark October night in 1958, a tremor was felt everywhere in Naantali. A tanker berthed in the Naantali oil refinery exploded. The ship’s tween-deck made of iron rose up and the ship tilted to its side. The tanker sank to the bottom in ten minutes. The major fire alarm brought in several fire…
In 1958, Antti Merilahti started work as a harbour pilot in Naantali. The post of Harbour Master was established in 1959, and Antti Merilahti was hired for the job. At the same time, two more pilots were hired by the Port. To the sea at the age of 14 Antti Merilahti headed out to the…
The construction of rock shelter for the State’s fuel depot (currently Neste) started in Tupavuori in summer 1944. The first two underground rock cavities were completed in 1946 and the next five by 1948. Oil shipments to Naantali commenced. An oil tanker arrived in the emergency supply store approximately once a month. Started in 1957,…
The location of the present Port of Naantali, south of the city-centre, on Naantalinsalmi straits is a naturally suitable place for a port, and a deep fairway leads there. Naantali’s commercial industrial port emerged during the Second World War and in the years after it. During the Continuation War a place was being sought for…
On Naantalinsalmi straits a seaside resort was in operation from 1918 to 1940s. There was a pavilion, restaurant, sandy beach and a water slide along which people slid to the sea with a wooden sled. ”The Tupavuori seaside resort is located a couple of kilometres away from the town along a lovely walking path that…