Sea traffic
On these pages, you can find instructions on sea traffic (shipping services).
Regular shipping service
A shipping company can apply for an authorisation to establish regular shipping services (RSS) from Customs if it carries goods regularly only between ports within the customs territory of the EU. The vessels carrying the goods may not come from, go to or call at any ports outside the territory of the EU or in a free zone in the customs territory of the Union.
Regular shipping service authorisation (RSS)
You can apply for a regular shipping service authorisation in the Customs Decision System (CDS). Use the customs office code FI904006 in the application.
Goods carried
The goods carried by a regular shipping service are Union goods, unless proven otherwise. Customs formalities are waived for Union goods in the port of destination. In a regular shipping service, the status of non-Union goods must be proven.
Regarding goods placed under the export procedure and carried by a regular shipping service, the export procedure is not discharged when the goods are loaded on board the vessel. As an exception, the export procedure is discharged when the single transport contract rule is referred to or when an electronic goods manifest or transport document is used as a transit declaration.
Non-regular shipping service
Non-regular shipping service means that the vessel operates between ports in the customs territory of the EU using a route that has not been granted a regular shipping service authorisation.
Goods carried
The goods carried by a non-regular shipping service are non-Union goods, unless proven otherwise. The goods are subject to normal customs formalities, and the carrier must submit the entry declarations for the goods in the port of destination.
There is guidance on proving the customs status of Union goods carried by a non-regular shipping service: Proving the Union status of arriving goods
When goods placed under the export procedure are loaded on board a non-regular shipping service vessel, the export procedure is discharged based on the exit declarations submitted for the goods. Read more: Goods exiting the EU
Shipping services between Finnish ports
When the loading and unloading of goods takes place in Finnish ports, no entry, exit or temporary storage declarations are submitted. If undeclared goods are carried between Finnish ports, either the T1 transit procedure or Customs-approved movement between temporary storage facilities must be used for them. Goods moved from one customs warehouse to another can also be moved under the customs warehousing procedure.
Notifications of the arrival and departure of vessels
Agents of seagoing vessels must notify authorities of the arrival and departure of vessels. The notifications can be submitted either via the Port Traffic Declaration Service (Portnet) or, if you are a message declarant, via message exchange. Read more about Portnet and the registrations related to the use of the service
Fairway dues
Fairway dues are levied on vessels engaged in merchant shipping in Finnish territorial waters.
Tax-free catering
Applying for an authorisation
With an authorisation from Customs, shipping companies can cater products exempt from taxes when the vessel is located in a port and when the catering is part of an event linked to the vessel’s maritime operations. Apply for an authorisation in advance with a free-form application from the Customs Authorisation Centre. Email your application to lupakeskus@tulli.fi.
Such events are, for example, a shipping company’s representation events linked to the marketing of the vessel to interest groups. Products can also be catered exempt from taxes to passengers on board the vessel in so-called force majeure situations where the prerequisites for tax-free catering would otherwise not be fulfilled.
A summary on the tax-free catering events must be sent by the sixteenth day of the following month by email to alustoimitukset@tulli.fi.
Authorisation conditions for tax-free catering (in Finnish)
Bunkering (loading of fuel from one vessel to another)
Applying for an authorisation
Bunkering, that is, the supplying of fuel in a port for use by the vessel is always subject to authorisation from Customs. The sea traffic team (MEKE) at the Electronic Service Centre of Customs must be notified of ship-to-ship bunkering by email to meke@tulli.fi.
MEKE serves customers on weekdays during office hours, from 8–16.15. In urgent matters, you can contact the on-duty officer at the Electronic Service Centre by email: spake.arex@tulli.fi.
Entry and exit declarations to be submitted for bunker fuel
Carriers are responsible for submitting entry summary declarations/temporary storage declarations and exit declarations to Customs. Carriers can also use a representative to submit the declarations.
- An entry summary declaration (ENS) and after that, a presentation notification (FI332) must be submitted for undeclared goods arriving directly from a non-EU country.
- If a vessel arrives from another Union port and unloads cargo in Finnish territorial waters or in a Finnish port, a temporary storage declaration (FI337) and a presentation notification (FI332) should be submitted to Finnish Customs for the goods to be unloaded.
- An exit manifest presentation (E547) and an exit notification (IE590) should also be submitted for the exiting vessel.
- If fuel is bunkered from a Finnish vessel in commercial traffic to another Finnish vessel, no entry or exit declarations are submitted.
Read more: See the instruction "Bunkering to a ship in international traffic" on the page Diagrams of arrival declarations
Additional information on bunkering to be provided in the declaration
In the entry summary declaration, the name of the port off which the bunkering takes place is provided in the field “Place of unloading”, along with the text “unloading to ship X”, where “X” stands for the IMO number of the ship to which the fuel is bunkered.
In the temporary storage declaration, you should provide “A – Designated location” as the type of location and “V” as its qualifier as well as the code of the customs office off which the bunkering will take place. Enter the additional information code “FISSL – Direct transhipment” and the description “bunkering and the name of the port where the bunkering takes place”. Enter the additional information code” FIXXX – Other additional information” and the description “unloading to ship X”, where X stands for the IMO number of the ship to be bunkered.
As soon as the bunkering of fuel into the fuel tank of another ship has taken place off port, the ship that has received the fuel, or the representative of that ship, must submit an exit manifest presentation IE547containing the MRN and goods item number of the summary declaration to Finnish Customs. After the exit manifest presentation, an exit notification IE590 should be submitted.
Electronic transport document (ETD) in transit
A shipping company can use an electronic transport document (ETD) as a simplification in order to place goods carried by sea under the transit procedure. Transit simplifications