Saimaan canal opens for season with no vessels expected to pass

The Saimaan canal, linking Lake Saimaa to the Baltic Sea, opened for the 2026 season on Monday—but no ships or pleasure craft are expected to transit the route due to the ongoing closure of the Finland-Russia border, according to canal authorities.

Seppo Kykkänen, head of the Saimaan Canal Delegation Office, stated that the 43-kilometre waterway—nearly half of which lies on Russian territory—will likely see no traffic this year. Before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the canal handled up to 2,000 vessels annually, but in 2023, only nine pleasure boats and no commercial ships passed through.

Finland pays Russia over €1.22 million annually in fixed rent for the canal under a lease agreement running until 2062, with additional variable fees tied to traffic volume. Kykkänen defended the arrangement, noting that maintaining the lease ensures future access once geopolitical conditions change. Termination of the agreement would require parliamentary approval.

Finnish boaters may still navigate the canal’s domestic section, but cross-border passage remains impossible. Some, like Antti Ryynänen, vice commodore of the Lappeenranta Yacht Club, argue for abandoning the lease and constructing a fully Finnish canal. “It’s foolish to keep paying the neighbour when we could build our own route,” Ryynänen said, calling the current situation “a fool’s errand.”

Commercial shipping through the canal is technically permitted, but European operators face insurance barriers for Russian transit. In practice, no cargo traffic has materialised since 2022.