Toppilan Möljä Oy

Active Owners Martti Haapala, Jukka Juola and Markku Kankaala acquired the majority of the company in spring 2020. The three men were all enthusiastic about boats and shared boating as a hobby, and inspired by Martti, they became owners of a tugboat called “Alpo”.

toppilanmolja.fi

Toppilan Möljä Oy is a modern shipping company that owns and operates its versatile fleet. In addition, the company plans and develops the marine environment of Toppilansalmi. Future projects include the “Alpo pier”, the “Alpo terminal” and the new marine centre called “Merikeskus”. In addition, there are plans to acquire more ships, which are supposed to operate from the port to the sea to various destinations.

Active Owners acquired the majority of Toppilan Möljä Oy, which owns the historic Alpo tug that operated in Toppilansalmi harbour between 1952 and 1990. The ship was built in New York in 1943 and participated in the Normandy campaign in 1945. The tugboat will be on display to the public at its own berth in the port. In addition, there are plans to acquire more ships, which are supposed to operate from the port to the sea to various destinations.

The first acquisition to the fleet was the legendary tugboat “Alpo”, originally named ST-335, built in the United States in 1943 for the Normandy campaign for transporting parts of the mobile port to Omaha Beach.

After surviving the operation unharmed, the tug came to Finland to carry out post-war mine clearance in the Gulf of Finland, under the working name “Dieselraivaaja No. 18”. After surviving this task as well, the tug moved to Oulu in 1952 to work as a tug in the harbour of Toppilansalmi, under the new name “Alpo”, and served the city until 1990.

In 1999, Alpo was acquired by Toppilan Möljä Oy, a company established for the purpose, which thoroughly renovated the old, declining ship. During this time, Alpo participated in the 60th anniversary of the Normandy campaign.

Alpo’s story continued happily in 2020 when Active Owners joined Toppila Mölja. A new crew with enthusiastic, younger members was put together, keeping the business going.

There are many things in the plans for the future, such as having our own pier and terminal in the port of Toppila, as well as participating in the 80th anniversary of the Normandy campaign in 2024.