Turku–Stockholm Green Shipping Corridor among the global front-runners
The Turku–Stockholm Green Shipping Corridor is one of the few routes where ambitious goals have already translated into concrete action. This is highlighted in the newly published Annual Progress Report on Green Shipping Corridors 2025, which tracks the global development of green maritime transport corridors.
In February 2024, the Ports of Turku and Stockholm together with Viking Line signed a cooperation agreement to develop a green maritime corridor between the two cities. The aim is to achieve a fully fossil-free and carbon‑neutral corridor by 2035, making it one of the Green Shipping Corridors defined under the Clydebank Declaration. The route was chosen as a pilot due to its high traffic volumes and its location in an environmentally sensitive archipelago. The cooperation provides a platform for solutions that can progressively reduce emissions and promote sustainable maritime transport.
Of the 84 global initiatives identified in the report, only four have so far reached the so‑called implementation stage, in which emission‑reducing measures are deployed in regular operations. Two of these are located in the Baltic Sea region, including the Turku–Stockholm route, which is regarded as one of the most advanced internationally.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 16 Dec
Announcements are published as a service to readers. The sender is responsible for all content. Announcements for publication can be submitted to announcements@thehanseatic.com.
Dependence on imported raw materials has made Europe vulnerable, exposed to supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty. Smart regulation is needed to create a level playing field for circular materials, products and business models, and to encourage innovation and reduce environmental pressures.
The European Union is currently formulating the Circular Economy Act (CEA) as a decisive step towards a competitive and more sustainable Europe. This presents a critical opportunity to move Europe’s circular economy from ambition to delivery.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 31 Mar
Members of the Executive Board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have expressed their dismay to learn that the proposed amendments to the Law on Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) are currently scheduled to be discussed by the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) after Easter without any due consideration being given to recommendations from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, nor to the critical observations expressed by the Seimas’ own legal experts and both the national and international journalist communities
The Executive Board – whose members are the leaders of 8 public service media organizations throughout Europe – stressed again on behalf of the EBU and their own organizations that the current draft law would only further increase the vulnerability of LRT to political pressure and thus severely undermine LRT’s public service remit and vital role in providing the Lithuanian public with independent, reliable and pluralistic information.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
The Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’ interceptor drone successfully completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In a realistic mission scenario, it autonomously searched, detected and classified a medium-sized one-way attack (kamikaze) drone. After successful identification, the Bird of Prey interceptor engaged the target with a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by defence tech start-up partner Frankenburg Technologies.
“Against the current geopolitical and military backdrop, defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO Airbus Defence and Space. “With our Bird of Prey and Frankenburg’s affordable Mark I missiles, we are providing armed forces with an effective, cost-efficient interceptor, filling a crucial capability gap in today’s asymmetric conflict theatres. The integration of Bird of Prey into Airbus’ air defence battle management suite IBMS acts as a force multiplier.”
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
A delegation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, along with other distinguished guests, visited Hycamite Friday for a tour of its Customer Sample Facility (Decarbonization Plant). The group explored the company’s technology and capabilities, including its battery‑grade graphite production capabilities.
CEO Laura Rahikka and Chairman of the Board Matti Malkamäki hosted the visitors. Following the tour, Malkamäki provided an in-depth briefing on Hycamite’s methane-splitting technology, its role in electrification, and our capacity to convert carbon into battery-grade graphite. Hycamite’s industrial-scale demonstration plant capacity produces 2 kt hydrogen annually in addition to high-value, solid carbon products.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
The Latvian airline airBaltic announces the start of the summer season 2026, running until late October 2026, by introducing nine new routes, relaunching several previously operated services, and increasing frequencies on nearly 30 existing routes from its bases across all three Baltic States and Finland.
Since 29 and 30 March, airBaltic has launched new connections between Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania), Oulu (Finland), and Warsaw (Poland), as well as relaunched services between Riga and Belgrade (Serbia). Additionally, newly launched destinations from Tallinn (Estonia) include Hamburg (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), alongside the relaunch of flights to Oslo (Norway).
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
The smallest companies in the Baltics will be eligible for up to €15 million in loans as a result of an initiative that alternative financing provider Capitalia is undertaking with support from the European Investment Fund (EIF). Capitalia will use an EIF guarantee to offer crowdfunded loans to microenterprises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania over three years.
Microenterprises, which have fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or total assets below €2 million, often struggle to secure funding from traditional lenders because of limited collateral or credit history.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending the City of Stockholm 5 billion Swedish kronor (around €470 million euro) to finance the city’s largest environmental investment in decades. The project involves closing the Bromma treatment plant and routing all the city’s wastewater to a significantly expanded and modernised treatment plant at Henriksdal.
The key element of the investment is a new wastewater collection tunnel that will transport sewage from Bromma to Henriksdal. The plant there will be expanded using advanced membrane technology, making it possible to treat more water without increasing the floor area and with significantly better results.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 26 Mar
The defence sector pre-accelerator Defence Business Lab is beginning its second year of operation and is inviting companies and teams to apply with technological solutions that support Estonia’s defence capabilities. The programme helps take defence technologies from idea and prototype stage through to testing and international growth opportunities.
The pre-accelerator is aimed at companies developing technologies applicable in the defence sector that need support in understanding the specific characteristics of the defence market, developing and positioning their solution, and preparing for the next stages of growth, including applying to international programmes.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 27 Mar
From March 17 to 19, a Consortium meeting of the European Union co-funded project H2Deri@BSP took place in Luleå, Sweden. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority was represented by Kaspars Liepiņš, developer of the renewable energy cluster.
During the meeting, project partners familiarised themselves with the Port of Luleå, one of the largest cargo ports in Sweden and an important industrial centre in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. They discussed project activities and latest updates and presented interim results of their work tasks. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority presented a techno-economic and commercial model designed to assess the development potential of solar, wind, and hybrid power plants, as well as green hydrogen and its derivative production facilities.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 26 Mar
In a significant move to bolster European energy independence, Hydrogen Cluster Finland and Poland’s key Hydrogen Cluster Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley Association (LSHVA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the creation of an integrated hydrogen market in the Baltic Sea region. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the leading Polish hydrogen conference, H2 Poland, taking place in Poznań.
The parties agree to cooperate in advancing a sustainable and safe green and low carbon hydrogen economy through knowledge exchange, ecosystem building, and mutual promotion of innovation and industry development. In addition to its regional role in one of the key hydrogen hubs of Poland, LSHVA will serve as national coordination platform for Finnish-Polish hydrogen interests.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 25 Mar