Although road transports from Austria to Finland is business as usual, this time it was not. FREJA had the honor to be the dedicated professional to transport a new church organ from Austria to Finland.
In Finland, the destination was the church of Suomenlinna. Suomenlinna is a famous tourist attraction and a maritime fortress with a base built for the Archipelago Fleet off the coast of Helsinki. Work on the fortress began in 1748.
Suomenlinna was inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991 to preserve it as an example of 18th-century fortress architecture in Europe.
The international transport was the first direct truck transport to Suomenlinna for Aleksi Elo, the experienced Operational Manager of FREJA Finland responsible for imports and exports from Eastern Europe.
Road transports from Austria are routine and a daily job for us, but this one was special because of the destination, Suomenlinna. The island and the site is a familiar tourist destination for me, but I wanted to be 100% sure that the route was clear for our truck. I worked closely with the church sexton and the suppliers of goods for the church renovation to ensure the route and timing of the shipment.
Import from Austria by road
- Date of loading Austria 13.4.2021
- Trailer arrival date in Hanko 17.4.2021
- From Katajanokka in Helsinki to Suomenlinna 19.4.2021
- Length of transport 17 m
- Combination weight 20 tonnes
- Load weight merely 3 200 kg
The service ferry that transported the trailer combination to the island from Katajanokka (Helsinki) was a new insight into the logistics of Suomenlinna for Elo.
Since the service platform could only accommodate one truck and there was only one suitable departure time per day, the transport had to arrive at the departure pier at exactly the right time. The organ pipes travelled from Austria to Finland, lying on their padded beds in the FREJA trailer. The organ pipes range in size from a few centimetres to over five metres.
After their arrival, the installation of the organ began. After the installation, the organ needs to be voiced. The voicing work will take place from the beginning of May until mid-June.
Anna Pulli-Huomo, lead church musician from the Tuomiokirkko congregation in Helsinki says that the new church organ is larger than the previous one, and Pulli-Huomo compares the new organ to a symphony orchestra. “The organ could be described as a string orchestra with a trumpet section.
The official inauguration concert for the new organ will take place in September, but the aim is to play the new organ at Suomenlinna’s summer concerts.”
