Tallink Grupp has announced that from Tuesday, 23 February 2021 until further notice, the company will require passengers travelling to Finland to present a negative COVID-19 test result certificate or a certificate from the GP evidencing that the passenger has recovered from coronavirus. The new requirement follows a strong recommendation from the Finnish Health Authority (Terveyden ja hyvinvointilaitos) to all shipping companies operating passenger ferries between Finland and neighbouring countries to introduce such a requirement.
According to the new rules, one of the two following documents will be accepted by the company and must be presented to the company’s customer services staff at the Port of Tallinn and at the Port of Stockholm prior to boarding and to the Finnish Border and Health Authority officials upon arrival in Finland:
- negative covid test proof (not older than 72h)
- GP proof of having had covid and recovery from the illness (during last 6 months)
The negative covid test proof should include:
- information about the tested person
- information about the laboratory which made test
- time of testing (max 72h before boarding)
- type of test (PCR or antigen test)
- result of the test (negative)
As an exception, the following people do not need to present the proof:
- children under the age of 12
- exchange crew members of the vessels
- crew members going to / arriving back from work
- cargo drivers performing work duties
- other people important for Finnish “huoltovarmuus” where the negative test requirement would make their job impossible (for ex cargo drivers)
The documents will also not be required from individuals who take a return trip from Finland on the vessels without disembarking in Estonia or Sweden.
Commenting on the new requirements, Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp said:
„We are making preparations already to comply with this requirement from next Tuesday, 23 February and we will do everything we can to help and support the Finnish authorities in their efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus in Finland. We naturally hope that taking these extra steps as a service provider and putting these additional requirements in place for passengers travelling to Finland, will, in return, enable the Finnish government to ease the travel restrictions specifically for commuter traffic, currently in place until 25 February 2021 and thus improve the situation for many families whose family life and work are split between several countries.“
It also important to remember that this recommendation is an additional action to limit the spread of covid. All other previously imposed and currently, valid restrictions (for example related to work-travel) are still in force.