Pilotage in Saimaa Canal and Lake Saimaa

Upon application, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency may grant the captain of a vessel the right to drive the vessel in a canal or in Lake Saimaa on a pilotage leg without a pilot after the master has completed the required examination (Pilotage Exemption Certificate). Finnpilot is responsible for pilotage in the canal and in the Saimaa waterway area

Pilotage on the Russian side

Leisure crafts whose hull length does not exceed 24 m may run without pilots between Vihrevoi Island and Brusnitschnoe Lock, if the boat is equipped with a VHF radio and the master of the boat or one of the crew members is fluent in English or Russian so they can handle communications. A boater may use a pilot in Vyborg Bay, even if the conditions for exemption from use of pilotage are met.

For more information on booking a pilot, please see the Ministry of Transport and Communication-given Saimaa Canal boat traffic instructions.