Steamer Cruises On Board Warkaus VII

The cruise will take place on the Warkaus VII tugboat, with the barge Eija attached to the side to provide additional space. During the cruise you will be able to move around the decks and below decks of both ships.

Dress appropriately for the trip, as there is limited covered space on the outer decks of the ships for viewing the views.

Please also note that the cruise is not accessible (e.g. for wheelchair users or strollers/pushchairs). The ships were designed in the early days primarily to work in the freight industry.

The ships have a guest toilet on board.

The nostalgic steamship cruises of the tugboat Warkaus VII and barge Eija start right from the heart of Varkaus, on the shore of Pirtinvirta. And what better starting point for the pearl of our industrial history than a pier on the side of our current strong business hub, Navitas Taitotalot.

When the steam whistle blows, we head from Pirtinvirta towards the narrow section of the Joensuu-Varkaus railway. After the railway bridge, we have a view of the backwaters of Lake Saimaa. Along the route you will see Lehtoniemi, where the Warkaus VII was launched in 1913. Today, the stones of the Lehtoniemen Konepaja are all that remain of the busy shipbuilding industry.

The route continues along the busy shipping lane that runs from Savonlinna via the Taipale Canal to Leppävirta. The fairway is still used by pleasure boats and industrial transports, for example to transport timber to factories in southern Saimaa. The fairway crosses the Siitinselkä, whose name comes from the word siida, a Sámi word for winter village. This stretch of water has also been part of the borderline between Sweden and Russia, as defined in the Treaty of Nöteborg.

The leisurely cruise includes time to listen to the sound of an old-fashioned steam engine and enjoy the smell of smoke from burning birch logs. On the way, we stop in the neighbouring municipality of Joroinen and admire the coastal landscapes of Kirvesniemi and Kuvansi. We also catch a glimpse of Varkaus' Akonniemi freight harbour, which serves foreign cargo traffic. At the southern end of Vuoriselkä, we make a full turn and take the same route back to the port of departure.

On the return trip, you can concentrate on enjoying the smooth dialogue between the more than 100-year-old steamship and the home waters of Lake Saimaa. This cruise is a unique opportunity to experience the beauty of Lake Saimaa and the industrial history of Varkaus all in one.

Join us and let nostalgia take you back in time!

Warkaus VII was originally built for the A. Ahlström company as a tugboat at its own shipyard in Varkaus in 1913. The ship has remained in service for more than a century, operating mainly in charter cruises in the waters near Varkaus. For more on the history of Warkaus VII, visit the website of the Suomen Hyörypursiseura https://steamship.fi/kaikkilaivat/s-s-warkaus-ii/.

The steamship is owned by ANDRITZ Warkaus Works Oy and the accompanying Eija barge by Sumitomo SHI FW Energia Oy.