Floating Breakwater Protects 100 New Berths at Mustanlahti Harbour

Around 100 new small-boat berths will be built at Mustanlahti this summer. A floating breakwater has been installed at the harbour entrance to protect them.

Two heavy piers were placed at the mouth of the harbour — one fixed to the southern shoreline and a floating, seabed-anchored pier off the tip of Särkänniemi. Harbour traffic will now pass between them. Port manager Tuomas Salovaara said the northern pier may look fragile from a distance, but it stands about three metres high and is structurally robust. Its main job is to shield the pistol-jetty berths from waves driven across Näsijärvi by northeasterly winds.

The new berths will be prioritised for boat owners displaced by earlier construction; some slips will sit on the sheltered side of the southern pier. He warned the gap between the piers narrows the navigation channel and, together with Tammerkoski’s upstream currents, will demand greater precision from skippers. Pajasari’s old breakwater will receive a cardinal mark, and the new piers are to be lit so visiting boats from Santalahti can spot them.

The southern breakwater will be open to pedestrians, while the floating northern structure is likely to stay mostly empty — aside from gulls and the occasional sun-seeker. Salovaara joked there will be no cabins, kiosks or even a sauna on the artificial-island–style breakwater. YLE reported.