Welcoming the Mayor of Hamina to Hacklin Hamiko
We were truly honored to welcome Mayor Ilari H Soosalu and the City of Hamina’s Director of Economic Development, Mia Hämäläinen, to our premises at the Port of Hamina!
Hacklin Hamiko’s story is deeply rooted in this region – even our name reflects it: Hamina + Kotka = Hamiko ⚓️ Founded in 1985, we have grown into a trusted logistics partner for Finnish industry and complex projects, continuously adapting to changing market conditions.
Today, as part of the family-owned Hacklin Group – with a history dating back to 1908 – we combine strong local expertise with long-term logistics know-how.
What makes us especially proud is our people. Many of our colleagues, including our Managing Director Pasi Luoma, first joined us as summer trainees and chose to stay. That says a lot about the culture we’ve built together.
You can read the full article and learn more about our journey, resilience, and future outlook below :
Logistics Excellence and the Ability to Adapt in Challenging Times
The City of Hamina’s City Meets Local Businesses visit series continued with a visit to Hacklin Hamiko, a logistics and forwarding specialist operating at the heart of the port area. The company’s distinctive and memorable name reflects a piece of regional history: “Hamiko” is formed directly from the names of the two neighbouring cities, Hamina + Kotka.
Today, the company provides a wide range of customs clearance, forwarding and warehousing services as part of the financially solid Finnish Hacklin Group.
From Summer Trainees to Leading the Company
Hacklin Hamiko’s Managing Director is Kotka native Pasi Luoma. His career path is an excellent example of the company’s long-term, committed and people-oriented culture. He first joined the company as a summer trainee in 1995 and has now been part of the journey for over 30 years.
Over the decades, Luoma has gained a uniquely broad practical understanding of logistics, progressing step by step through roles such as ship agent, freight forwarder, logistics assistant, warehouse manager and regional manager — all the way to Managing Director.
A similar story of commitment can be found in Head of Sales & Marketing Tatyana Parkko, who joined the company as a summer trainee in 2006. The company has a remarkable number of former summer trainees, and employee turnover is exceptionally low.
“Once you join, you don’t leave,”
Luoma says, describing the company’s close-knit atmosphere.
From liquid handling to an international warehousing business
The company’s story began in Hamina on September 12, 1985, when Lasse Peltonen, Leo Helminen, Heimo Heikkilä and Reino Nousiainen founded Oy Hamiko Agency Ltd. Initially, the company provided liquid handling services for oil and chemical tankers arriving at the Port of Hamina.
In 1998, Kaukokiito and the Japanese company Mitsui Soko became owners, bringing a strong warehousing business into the company’s operations. The family-owned company Hacklin, founded in 1908 in Pori, acquired a share of the company in 2004, and since 2011, Hamiko has been fully owned by the Hacklin Group.
A Major Turning Point: Reinventing the Market in 2022
Over the decades, the company has experienced and successfully adapted to a wide range of market changes. With Finland’s accession to the EU, transit traffic from the east increased significantly, and large volumes of consumer goods and electronics passed through Hamina to the Russian market.
However, everything changed suddenly in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine. Cross-border traffic came to a halt, and the Moscow and St. Petersburg offices were permanently closed. This posed a major challenge, as approximately 60% of the company’s business had been linked to Russia.
As a result, Hacklin Hamiko was forced to reinvent its operations. After an intensive period of adjustment lasting around 1–1.5 years, the company successfully refocused its activities and strengthened its position in both the domestic market and other international markets.
The lost eastern transit business has now been replaced by serving Finnish industry. Today, the company primarily handles raw materials required by domestic industries. Key areas of focus include demanding project logistics, chemical logistics, and energy infrastructure projects.
A Trusted Partner for Large-Scale Industrial Projects
Today, Hacklin Hamiko operates approximately 60,000 square metres of warehouse space at the Port of Hamina.
The company has played a key role in several major industrial projects in Hamina and the wider region:
- Hamina LNG terminal: The company was responsible for demanding on-site logistics during the construction phase. A key element of the project was the LNG storage tank rising over 50 metres in height.
- Fintoil pine oil refinery in Hamina: Hamiko managed the site logistics for the construction of the refinery producing renewable raw materials.
- Data center projects: The company provides temporary storage for equipment delivered to data centers and handles part of the customs clearance related to subcontractor deliveries.
These demanding projects and export packing operations have also transformed the skills required from employees. Previously, warehouse work focused on optimizing space—for example, packing DVDs as efficiently as possible. Today, technical expertise and practical craftsmanship, such as carpentry skills for securing and packing heavy components, are highly valued.
Operations follow strict safety standards, as reflected in the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications granted by Inspecta.
Although daily operations require analytical thinking and constant attentiveness, financial performance is not the only measure of success at Hacklin Hamiko. As a family-owned company, it places strong emphasis on employee well-being and open, solution-oriented dialogue with partners at the heart of everything it does.
Working Closely Together to Support Hamina’s Development
During the visit, there was also an open and constructive discussion about the region’s development and its challenges. The merger of the ports once brought with it the harmonisation of land lease rates, which placed Hamina-based companies at a disadvantage and significantly increased costs. The company emphasised how important it is for local decision-makers to strongly advocate for the interests of Hamina’s business community and the port area in joint representation efforts.
There is a strong willingness within the company to engage and contribute to the development of Hamina’s vitality. During the meeting, representatives of the city also introduced the Hamina vitality network, which already includes around 100 active local stakeholders.
“That sounds interesting. Whenever there is an opportunity to make an impact, we are more than happy to be involved in developing Hamina,”
– summarises Managing Director Pasi Luoma at the end of the positive visit.
