Archipelago cruise on the steamship Ukkopekka

Last updated: February 13th, 2025

s/s Ukkopekka headed for Naantali

[Unfortunately Ukkopekka will cease operations at the end of 2024., if you are looking to cruise on steamship in Finland, check out these other alternatives on our steamship guide page.]

The age of the steam engine might be gone but you can still hear that steam whistle blow and feel the slow thuds of a real steam engine under your feet in the Turku archipelago. There is no better way to awaken your steamship nostalgia than taking an archipelago cruise on the steamship Ukkopekka.

s/s Ukkopekka, originally called s/s Turku, was built in Helsinki at the Hietalahti shipyard in 1938. s/s Turku was commissioned as a service vessel for the Turku pilot district and was used to service lighthouses and other aids to navigation in the archipelago. During WWII s/s Turku was taken over by the navy and used as a patrol vessel. She also almost participated in the famous battle of Bengtskär, but run aground just before reaching the battle ground. After the war most steel-built vessels in Finland had to be handed over to the USSR as war compensation but s/s Turku luckily stayed in Finland as the was taken into use by the Allied (in Finland called just the) Control Commission.

The original s/s Turku, here in one of her roles as an icebreaker.

When the Control Commission withdrew from Finland, s/s Turku went back to her duties as a support vessel and harbor icebreaker until she was finally retired in 1980. After having been taken out of service, s/s Turku was to be scrapped, but fortunately she was saved by steamship company owner Pentti-Oskari Kangas, a famous Finnish musician from the band Seitsemän Seinähullu Veljestä (roughly “Seven raving mad brothers” in english).

Pentti-Oskari Kangas, the person who saved s/s Turku

s/s Turku becomes s/s Ukkopekka

In 1986-87, s/s Ukkopekka was totally renovated at the Uusikaupunki shipyard to get her current cruise ship looks. For instance the 52 brass windows that adorn the restaurant were salvaged from an old Polish passenger ship that was being scrapped at the time. s/s Ukkopekka can now take just under 200 passengers of which 150 can be seated in the restaurant.

What makes s/s Ukkopekka unique is that she is still equipped with the original trippel expansion steam engine from 1938. The engine is most likely the last of its type still in operational use in the world! Only the water boiler is a more modern construction as it is no longer heated with wood but uses oil instead. With the current boiler, the engine generates some 380 hp and gives Ukkopekka a top speed of about 10 knots.