Cargo from Finland to the United Kingdom travels with us one of two ways: by ro-ro ferry from Hanko to Gdynia, or overland through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania along the Via Baltica. In Poland the goods are consolidated and cleared, then join our regular flow to the UK. Loading metres, weight and the chosen route decide the cost.
The sea option: ro-ro from Hanko to Gdynia
Finnlines runs a regular freight connection between Gdynia and the port of Hanko in southern Finland. A complete trailer or an intermodal unit rolls onto the vessel. The advantage is a simple journey: one sea leg instead of four land borders and fewer road kilometres. We usually pick the sea option for palletised cargo that passes through the Polish hub anyway.
The land option: Via Baltica
The E67 expressway, known as Via Baltica, links Helsinki (via a ferry to Tallinn) with Warsaw through Riga and Kaunas. The land option is more flexible on timing, because it does not depend on a specific sailing from Hanko, and works well for express and non-standard shipments. The price is a longer road leg across four countries.
What decides the transit time
- Dispatch timing against ferry departures: a trailer that catches the next sailing saves a day or two.
- Consolidation at the hub: an LTL shipment waits for the next scheduled line departure, an FTL leaves at once. The timetable is fixed, so the delivery date counts from the next departure rather than from how much freight gathers at the hub. On steady flows we fix one day of the week and keep to it, because a predictable rhythm is worth more to a consignee than a few hours saved on a single run.
- Customs and Channel crossing slots: complete documents before the port shorten the border passage.
- Delivery point in the UK: southern England is a different final leg than Scotland or Northern Ireland.
We do not promise fixed transit times in an article, because they depend on current sailings and route load. You get a concrete plan with dates at quotation.
What the cost is made of
- Freight for the Finnish leg: sea (per unit) or land (per kilometre).
- Cross-dock and consolidation at the hub: with LTL you pay for your share of the truck, measured in loading metres or by weight.
- Both customs declarations, export and UK import: included in our price of carriage.
- Final delivery in the UK, optionally through the Milton Keynes warehouse.
The mechanics of consolidation are covered in Finland to the UK by road: how consolidation via Poland works, and the standing offer on this lane on the Finland destination page.
Sources
Goods in Finland and a consignee in the UK or Ireland? Use the contact form and we will pick the route and price the freight for your shipment.
